I would like to dedicate my Sunday morning post to grandparents, all of you great people who have spawned our next generation and whose high voter participation keeps our democracy running. I am sad to announce the passing of my last remaining grandfather, and I thought that the best tribute would be a salute to all grandparents. My Papa had been very ill for the last few years and he lived past standard life expectancy, so on one hand it is a relief that his suffering is over, but a sad event nonetheless. He left the planet with half a dozen breeding age grandchildren, making his life an unquestioned evolutionary success.
His stories and his experiences will live on through his children and grandchildren, but you wonder what stories slipped through the cracks and are gone forever? To those of you out there fortunate enough to have living grandparents, be sure not to take them for granted because once they're gone, a lifetime of wisdom goes with them. Our nation's elders are an incredible resource of knowledge that should be harnessed by our nation's youth. Grandparents are good for more than just free babysitting.
Sadly it is not until they pass that we tend to fully appreciate the lives they lived and what they had to teach us. Today I wanted to do a public service announcement that we should all appreciate our grandparents because as the song goes "you don't know what you've got until it's gone." So today I ask the question, how many of your grandparents are alive? I would encourage people reading this to share your own experiences with your grandparents in the comment section below, and what you think the grandparent-parent-grandchild relationship means to our culture.
For all the dedicated contribution that my grandparents made to my life, I do have one piece of cautious advice to those of you putting your grandchildren to bed with the Lord's prayer; the words "if I die before I wake, pray the Lord my soul to take" can very much frighten a toddler. I did spend many a sleepless night in that old house wondering how if there was a risk of me being killed in my sleep, what the hell is living in the closet??? Sometimes the gift of imagination is the greatest curse of all.
I will say this about my own grandfather, he was on a first name basis with virtually every Tim Horton’s patron within a 500 mile radius of his home, and he was a beloved member of his community. He was a church going man who has a one way ticket to heaven, whereas my heretic self my have to argue in purgatory for a while before I am granted passage. But if I am lucky, 3 of my grandparents will be up there arguing my case for entry before my time expires…
PS: With regards to my poll question, note that roughly 60% of my visitors are over the age of 50. I likely have more visitors who are grandparents than have living grandparents.
What a lovely tribute to your Grandad Iceman! And so very true,that our elders are a wonderful source of history,and too often we don't appreciate that until they are gone.Sadly,both my GrDads were gone before I was born,and one GrMa died when I was in Gr4,and I often wondered what I had missed by them not being there.I was lucky enough to have had a really warm and loving relationship with remaining GrMa,until she passed about 10 yrs ago.I like to think I was her 'favorite' out of 8 grandkids!
ReplyDeleteSincerest sympathy Iceman for your loss. Sammy
Sorry for your loss. Hope he can rest easy now that the hard work is done.
ReplyDeleteI've got none left myself, my Pop was the last to go, and it was in a car accident (he was a passenger).
You're definitely right about not knowing if you get to hear all of the good stories - I feel like I've missed out on so much.
Thinking about you and your family right now.
Mike
I'm very sorry your grandpa has died, Iceman. The older generation really understood 'duty' and 'obligations' and the concept of making do with what they had.
ReplyDeleteI attended the funeral of a friends grandmother last week. The eulogy given by the g/daughter was very moving. I often wonder if the g/children have told their g/parents how they really feel, and how they have influenced their lives during their time with them. And the reverse could be asked, have we told our g/kids what they mean to us, and how they have enriched our lives.
ReplyDeleteI am very lucky, as all 11 g/kids keep in touch and keep me informed of what is happening in their lives. And they do it with phone calls on their dime every month.
Very sorry for your loss.
MaryT