Loving my Grandparents

"The importance of grandparents in the life of little children is immeasurable. A young child with the good fortune to have grandparents benefits in countless ways. The child has a place to share its joys, its sorrows, to find a sympathetic and patient listener, to be loved.
Questions and answers about the 'old days' locate a child historically in his own small world. It provides a sense of inner security and a feeling of belonging."

Edward Wakin
I was fortunate to have both sets of grandparents live very near to me, and I was very close to both of them. As I get older I still cherish, the Sunday afternoons playing in my grandmother's huge front yard with all my cousins. We would run and play games as our mothers and fathers sat and visited, and my grandmother always had some sort of lovely treat for us to eat. She had beautiful rose bushes. These grandparents had a large orchard in the back of their house and I can remember my grandfather wheeling me in the wheelbarrow when everyone got together to pick the delicious fruit to take home and bottle for the winter months. They were from Sweden and were proud of that heritage and kept it alive by stories and customs. My other set of grandparents had barbeques and sing-a-longs in their backyard on warm summer evenings. We heard stories of the depression and the war and somehow it seemed like an adventure when told in that setting. Grampa liked to set off firecrackers and grew the best corn in the world. Yes, I learned where I came from by listening to and loving my grandparents.