Grand day is here

By JENNIFER MOONSONG
Glasgow Daily Times

September 06, 2008 03:16 pm

— Today is Grandparents Day, a day to celebrate and remember those folks who are and have been important in our lives.
“I could give you lots of clinical terms and facts, but the bottom line is that grandparents and grandchildren have a very special relationship, a very special bond,” said therapist Peggy Nunn of Family Options Inc.
Grandparents Day originated with now 91-year-old Mary McQuade of West Virginia, who wanted elderly nursing home residents to have the honor they deserved. In 1978, President Jimmy Carter declared Grandparents Day a national holiday to be celebrated the first Sunday following Labor Day.
Nunn, now a grandmother herself, has fond memories of her own grandmother.
“I try to pattern the way I am with my grandchildren around the way my grandmother was with us,” she said. “She always had the time to be there and listen.”
Nunn said a grandparent’s willingness to listen and be available as a confidant is a big part of the unique quality of the grandparent-grandchild connection.
“Parents are so busy making a living and keeping the family together and a grandparent who may be retired or less busy can come in and become the extra support and give that loving attention that a family needs,” she said.
Nunn likens grandparents to the body’s mainframe.
“Grandparents are the backbone of the family,” she said.
Another reason grandparents are so important to the family unit is that most value their grandchildren.
“They’re just crazy about the grandbabies,” Nunn said. “They have more time, they’ve raised their own family and it’s a chance to give more.”