Grandparents
Moms View Message Board: General Discussion Archive: Archive September 2005:
Grandparents
After posting my pic I was curious of How many of you had your Grandparents alive when you were growing up.
Myself the only one I had was My Dad's Mom. My Mom's Mom passed away young and my Dad's Dad passed away at a young age. My Mom's Dad passed away 4 months after I was born.
Yesterday I just got to thinking, Brett 11 and Alissa 4, at their young age only have one Grandparent still living and that's by Dad.
I felt so bad when they were reading a Gramdma book at school yesterday, what Alissa must have been thinking.
I'm sort of all over the board with this one.
On Mom's side - Grandma is still alive.
Grandpa died when I was 29.
G-grandma died when I was 27.
G-Grandpa died when I was 18.
On Dad's side - Grandma died when I was 33.
Grandpa died when I was 5.
I've always been in the minority with having not only had Great Grandparents who were alive but lived until I was an adult. I can remember sleeping at their house and even having them take us riding on horses as kids.
At the last funeral I was at, my G-Grandfather's brother was there and started talking while my back was too him. For just a brief second, the memories flooded back. He sounded just like his brother.
It makes me sad to think that no everyone had their Grandparents around for a good portion of their life. There is such a special bond between Grandparents and Grandchildren. It's like nothing else I've known.
My last great grandparent died shortly after I was born. I was the last great grandbaby she got to hold.
My dad's father died when I was 5.
My dad's mom died just a couple of years ago. She had advanced alzeheimer's and hadn't been aware of who we were for many years.
My mom's mom died when I was 11.
My mom's dad died in January of 1998. Our middle child was 6 months old and I have always regretted that he never met Griffin.
For my children, they still have two great grandparents alive. Dh's grandmother (his father's side) has never met our children, but she never forgets a birthday.
Dh's grandfather (mother's side) lives with dh's parents and our kids know him very well. He has alzeheimer's so some visits are more lucid than others, but I love that they know him.
All of our kids grandparents are alive. Dh's parents live about 4.5 hours from us and we see them frequently. My parents live on the opposite side of the country, so the visits are spread further apart, but typically last for a week at a time.
All four of my grandparents were alive when I was little, as were both my dad's grandmothers. They both died when I was in elementary school. My mom's dad died when I was 6. My dad's dad died when I was in high school. His mom died about 7 years ago and my mom's mom died 3 years ago. My kids have both my dh's parents and my mom. My dad's been gone almost 9 years, but they did have him and my grandma and they say they remember them. Randy was only 1 and Robin was only 3 when my dad died, but we have lots of pictures. Of course we don't live near any of the relatives. Pictures are how my kids "know" most, except for the occasional visit. I do wish we lived close enough to visit more often, but with both our families distance is a good thing. 
I tell you what...my paternal grandparents are spectacular.
My 84 year old grandfather still bike races! My grandma is starting to lose her memory at age 81, but they are both wonders to me.
They have won the senior olympics quite a few times for mixed doubles tennis. However, they don't play together much anymore, due to my grandmother's heart condition.
My maternal grandparents are another story...history of strokes, lung cancer, breast cancer and both have died.
We are lucky that DH and I both still have our parents around for Connor though...and they are SO very active with him.
My mom's biological mom died in 2001
My mom's dad died in 2003
My mom's stepdad died last July
My mom's stepmom (the one who raised her)is still alive and we see her often
My dad's mom died when my mom was 4 months pregnant with me
My dad's dad died when I was 14 (DEVASTATED me, we were very close)
My mom's grandma (my great grandma) is still alive, she's 87 years old and is in perfect health in CA. Her husband has been gone since 1990.
Brendan still has my parents his great grandma on my side. On Chuck's side he has all his grandparents and his great grandparents even though they've only seen him a handful of times.
My paternal grandma died when I was 11, my paternal grandfather when I was maybe 20ish? My maternal grandma died when I was 24, and my maternal grandpa died when I was pregnant with Meghan. I was 30. Nicole was the only one of my kids who had a great grandfather.
My kids had all of their grandparents until February when my dad died. My little nephew was only about 6 weeks old at the time, and will never have the privilege of knowing his grandpa. That really saddens me.
I had both sets growing up. My mom's parents were very loving and nurturing and though they lived in Louisiana and we lived in Georgia at the time, they made sure we saw them at least twice a year, and in the summers my sister and I would spend half the summer with them. They were very involved. When my parents split, my mom moved us to Louisiana where her family was and we actually lived with my grandparents for a year.
My dad's parents were a strange mix - my grandfather was great, loving and laid back. My grandmother taught music lessons, and I took piano lessons from her, but the woman was certifiable - totally nuts - and she said/did some very hurtful/harmful things to all 3 of us while we were growing up.
But I was fortunate to have all 4 grandparents alive.
My kids still have their paternal grandparents, but they are not very involved, never have been. My mom was, mostly when the kids were young. My kids were just developing a relationship with my dad when he died in 1990, and for that I am sad, because he was tickled pink to have grandchildren and I know he looked forward to spending time with them. It never happened.
*My mom's side ~ her mom and step-dad are still alive, and real dad is alive. My step-grandpa is the only grandpa I know, but I know of the real one.
~My great grandma (step-grandpa's mom) died when I was 16.
*My dad's side ~ his mom & dad are still alive, never met my great grandparents on that side.
My girls have 3 sets of grandparents (my parents got divorced and remarried other people). They have 2 sets of great grandparents. My parents are not old but DH's is (he was a late baby) so I can hope they will be around until the girls are adults.
My mom's side, grandparents still alive (biological gradfather died when my mom was a teen, so the man I know as grandpop isn't really). My grandmom and I are very close, like a surrogate mom to me.
Great-grandfather died when I was 7, great grandmother died in 2003.
My dad's side, grandparents still alive.
I had one biological grandparent alive until I was 10, never saw her. All of my others had passed at or near my birth. (My parents were older when I was born) I was blessed to have my "adopted" set of grandparents who did everything with me and took me under their wing my whole life. My 'grandma' babysat for me until I was 3 before they retired to a different state. We bonded from the beginning and that's the 'grandma' I just visited in TN (from the photo sharing board). Even though my 'grandparents' are not biological, I can't imagine my life without them.
Two (one on each side) died when I was 10. My grandfather lived till 80 and I was a junior on college. My great grandmother lived till 100 (I was in my late 20's). My mom's mom lived till almost 100 (she died 6 years ago). Sadly, my mom died 3 years ago.
Grandpa Mom's side died when I was 10
Grandma Dad's side died when I was 37
Grandpa Dad's side died when I was 41
Grandma mom's side, still alive (I'm 45)
I've been very lucky!
I was three when my grandfather on my mother's side died. My father's mother lived to see my children. My two sons had 4 grandparents until my mom died when they were 8 and 3. They still have Karl's parents alive. Nichole knows 2 grandfathers, 2 grandmothers, 4 great grandfathers and two great grandmothers.
My grandmother and a few of her grandkids.
I'm on the right in braids.
My grandmother and a few of her grandkids.
I'm on the right in braids.
My grandmother is still living, she is almost 82. I only see her a handful of times a year now, but I call her a couple of times a week. My papaw died 2 years ago  at age 82. Those are my mom's parents, my mom died 8 years ago, both her parents survived her. My dad's parents died when i was 3 and 11. My dad remarried 7 years ago, so he got a different MIL, she just turned 90, she also outlived her daughter (my dad's wife #2 died 2 years ago).
On my hubby's side, he currently has all 4 parents living. One of his great grandmother sdied when i was pg with number 1. His last grandparent died when i was pg with number 2.
So yes my kids have grandparents, so many we have many many many names. My dad, his new wife, his 2nd wifes mom, my grandmother, his step mom's dad and wife, and then the 4regular grandparents from their dad, so that is 9 grandparents living.
Wow Kaye!!!!
My maternal grandparents are both still living, and my paternal grandmother is alive, though I don't really know her.
Christopher has tons of grandparents too! He has my mom and stepdad, my dad and stepmom, my father-in-law and his 2nd wife, and my mother-in-law and her 2nd husband. Then he has my grandparents, AND jimmy's grandmother. That makes 11! This child is CRAZY spoiled!
When my mom turned 40 (a few mo. before my dad) my dad teased her about being "middle-aged." She responded, my grandmother is 86 and still going strong, so I won't be middle-aged until at least 43! As you can see below, my mom's grandma lived to 97.5, so I won't be middle-aged until I'm at least 48.75!
Maternal--
Grandmother: still living, age 82
Grandfather: died at age 78 when I was 17
G-Grandmother: died at age 97 when I was 18
G-Grandfather: died at age 89 when I was 8
Paternal--
Grandmother: still living, age 68
Step-Grandfather: still living, age 82
Grandfather: still living, age 72
G-Grandmother: still living, age 89 or so
G-Grandfather: died when I was about 8
My grandfather died about the time the challenger crashed (that happened the day of his funeral). My grandmother died when my youngest was about 3. Dh's grandmother died when I was pregnant with my second child and I never met dh's grandfather, although I hear he was quite a character.
My children live next door to their paternal grandparents, which can be a blessing and a curse. My dad and my stepmother live about 10 minutes away and my mother lives about 2o minutes away.
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