Yesterday, by our families Roman Catholic Faith, is "Grandparents Day" or the Feast of Sts. Anne & Joachim ~ parents of the virgin Mary and thus grandparents of Jesus.
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| Sts. Anne & Joachim ~ parents of the virgin Mary and thus grandparents of Jesus. |
As I reflect on this day, I remember how ever grateful I am to have grandparents in my life and, even moreso, for my son to have his grandparents to grow up with. This became even more apparent to me only recently actually when a friend shared his sadness over the fact that they no longer have living parents and thus that their children will never know the love of a grandparent. He shared the fact that he somewhat envy's the joy that he saw in my husband, Joe, and I's parents and my son when they see each other. Something perhaps I took for granted in the past.
My mom continually tells me to "wait and see!". She tells me that .... "you think you love your child? ....Just wait until you have grandchildren!" Sometimes a very little piece of me smuggs at the fact that the first thing my own mom does when we open the door to her is her screech and holler for my son, Jonathan. Its kind of like... "ummm....Hello....! Your daughter is here too you know!"....LOL But I can honestly say that this selfish feeling is very short lived as I see the joy that Jonathan has and love for all his grandparents and the love that his grandparents have for him. How blessed he is to have both grandparents, great grandparents and actually while he was in womb still; a great great grandparent...God Bless Ava Joanna who lived to 104 years old!
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| Avoa ("grandma" in Portuguese Joanna). My husbands great grandmother. Lived to 104. I was still pregnant with Jonathan so she didn't get to meet him. Although she did experience the love for great, great grandchild. |
Let alone all the love they display for our children; grandparents are wonderful assets to new parents for many other reasons as we all know. I would say "babysitters" but my husband continually reminds me that its not babysitting when its your own flesh and blood :) From my mom staying with me for 2 weeks after I had Jonathan, to my in-laws who are constantly on call if I need them, to surprise visits, camping trips together, vacationing, family dinner.. etc. etc. ....the list goes on of great memories we share.
So how have I / We thanked our parents and grandparents today? This week? In the last few months even? Have we shown them how much we appreciate them? Have we taught our children to love and respect our parents and grandparents through our own actions? This is something that I, myself, need to work on; however I trust that its also a common theme in many homes. Whereas in the "good old days" it was common to have 3 or even 4 generations living under 1 roof; today this is very rare. Joe, my husband and I, always joke about how nice it was to live with his parents for 2.5 years after we were married and how we always beg them to let us move back in...ha! How awesome would that be? But I know that this isn't the typical relationship that people have with their parents and grandparents, thus once again I reflect on behalf of all new parents out there. THANK YOU GRANDPARENTS. WE LOVE YOU ~ even if we forget to show & tell you sometimes :)
Happy "Grandparents Day" or the Feast of Sts. Anne & Joachim
