grandparents
Becoming a grandparent makes getting older something to look forward to - all the fun of parenting, without the hassle.
Take the Trip Before it’s Too Late
For years I’ve wanted to escape New York and move south to be with my father’s parents. My grandmother’s hugs have never been matched. My grandfather’s stories are some of the first that ever mattered to me. Whenever life would feel unbearable I’d remind myself of him—orphaned in Iran as a little boy, the things he witnessed. The luck he made for himself and carried forward, relentlessly optimistic, for decades. When I was old enough I traveled to Florida with a voice recorder and sat with him for hours. I didn’t care about the beach or playing with my younger cousins or the amazing garden he tended so carefully. I craved my history and his. I promised Grandpa I’d write his biography one day. He told me everything.
By Kristina Sarhadi4 years ago in Families
My grandmother gets sad when her clock stops
My oldest grandmother (that's not how you usually distinguish grandparents, but that's how I'm going to do it) told me, one beautiful day, sunny afternoon, one of the few times that I, as a bad grandson, go to visit her at home "I bought this clock used many years ago" with the typical grandmother exaggeration in her voice "It stops once in a while and I get very sad, I stop it too". I didn't tell her then, but I had a very strange feeling when she told me that. A feeling of notion. A sense of finitude. Of mortality.
By Gui Barbosa4 years ago in Families
Craig Wood, the Hero Who is My Dad
In 2015, I decided to leave the religion I had grown up in. Not only leave that religion but completely rejected the concept of a god and became an atheist. The hardest thing about this life changing decision was telling my parents, especially telling my Dad.
By Dana Freeman4 years ago in Families
Remembering Again
It has taken ten years for Poppop to remember my name again. We are sitting at a table outside under string lights and stars. He is wearing a blue sweater vest and his head is still bald. I cry as he marvels at my tattoos. He tells me he would like to get some. How outlandish! How hip! He doesn't ask me why I’m crying, and I don’t register the tears until I wake up.
By Sone Kramer4 years ago in Families
You've got the wrong kid!
My Grandpa and I had a very effective system for after school pickup. Pampa would arrive a little earlier than most parents and other pickup personnel in order to secure a prime parking location near the entrance of the gate that I would exit the school premises from. In order to pass the time, Pampa would shut off the car, read the newspaper and daily specials at the markets, or he would get out of the car to socialize with the crossing duty. My role in our system was to pack up as quickly and efficiently as possible so that I could be one of the first students to emerge and make my way to the station wagon. The sooner I would get out, the greater our chances of avoiding the after school traffic jam.
By Marissa Bendick4 years ago in Families
The Cole Bros The Greatest Show on Earth
My family, the Renbargers, had always been cursed with bad memory. Almost to the point of feeling crazy, where me, my dad, or my grandpa would put something down and immediately look down and it wasn’t there. My grandpa said it used to happen to his dad and his grandpa. Dates, events, and facts would just completely vanish from memory. The men in the family were always faithful and kind to our significant others so the memory thing was tough for the ladies in the family but I guess bearable. Even my girlfriend gets upset at my terrible memory, and thinks me telling her that I’m cursed is dumb and that I just don’t want to take blame, which is understandable.
By Jeremy Renbarger4 years ago in Families
The Good Ol' Days
As I come to the end of the fourth decade of my journey on this planet, I often find myself reflecting on everything that has led me to this point in life. I have much to be grateful for, but one thing that stands out to me is how fortunate I have been to have such an abundance of positive male figures in my life. Along with my father being a huge part of my upbringing, I also had the presence of my mom's father and step-dad and her grandfather, though he passed on early in my childhood. These were all wonderful men who brought a lot of attributes that shaped my values, but that man who most influenced my personal growth was my dad's step-father, Jodie... or "Grampa" as I would call him. I never got to know my dad's father, as he passed on and my grandmother remarried long before I was born. As nice as it would have been to know my biological grandfather, I do think that the powers that be somehow knew how much I needed someone like this man in my life.
By Sissi Smith4 years ago in Families
