Celebrate Grandparents Day on September 13th 2015
Don't Forget Your Grandparents
Do you celebrate Grandparent's Day? The idea of a Grandparents Day began in the 1970s in Virginia, the brainchild of Marion McQuade. It is now a nationally recognised day although not yet as popular as Mothers Day and Fathers Day.
The forget-me-not is the official flower of Grandparents Day. It is a poignant reminder of us all to not forget our grandparents on any day of the year, but especially on the first Sunday after Labor Day.
The History of Grandparents Day
In 1970 Marian McQuade started a campaign in West Virginia to introduce a Grandparents Day. In 1973 Governor Moore proclaimed the first Grandparents Day would be held on May 27th 1973 in West Virginia.
Marian McQuade continued to campaign for a National Day and finally in 1978 she got what she wanted. President Jimmy Carter proclaimed a national Grandparents Day on the first Sunday after Labor Day.
Where Did The Date Come From?
It is said that Grandparents Day should be celebrated in Autumn because people become grandparents in the Autumn of their lives. Not sure how true this is, but it is a lovely idea.
Family Memories
On Grandparents Day, buy a journal and spend time with your Grandparents.
You can talk about their childhood, their family and take notes so that you have something to hand down to your own grandchildren.
Other things that can be handed down are tips.
Entitle your journal "Tips from an Older Generation" and fill it with cooking recipes/tips, household tips, gardening tips.
Keeping a record of your grandparents knowledge is something that you will treasure in years to come. It is also a great way of letting future generations 'know' their ancestors.
I can remember doing a school project about World War II and having to interview my grandmother, I really wish I had kept the tape I made and the notes as it was very interesting and I would've loved to have shared it.
Visual Memories
The best present you can give your grandparents is your time, but if you want to give them a tangible present as well then a digital photo frame is a great idea.
Load photos of all of their children, grandchildren and great grandchildren onto the memory stick and they can have a constantly changing picture of loved ones to look at when you can't visit.
The forget-me-not became the official Grandparents Day flower in April 1999. This flower serves as a reminder to people to visit their grandparents on Grandparents Day.
Buy This Forget-Me-Not Print From Allposters.com.
With families moving away from their birth places and becoming more isolated fostering relationships between grandparents becomes more and more important.
The bonds between a grandparent and grandchild can become very precious. My own parents live in a different country to me and yet my son has managed to maintain a special relationship with them.
The use of webcams when she was younger and encouraging her to talk on the phone every week has paid off. It is a relationship that I wish everyone could have with their grandparents.
Grandparents Day
A Great Excuse to Spend the Day Together
Use Grandparents Day as an excuse to spend a whole day together. You could get your grandparents to help write a family tree and pass on little tidbits. Start a new tradition by purchasing a bible and writing the family tree inside to pass down.
Get Grandma to do some baking with you, if you don't know how then maybe she can teach you. Sewing or knitting may be more her forte and it can never hurt to learn a new skill.
Get Grandpa to teach you wood carving or clock making.......whatever skills he may have. He may even be into moonshine, now that would involve a few tales!
If you do not have any surviving grandparents then there is a drive to "adopt-a-gran". This is a program that matches up people with no grandparents to people in homes who have no family or whos family live overseas/interstate.
How will you be celebrating Grandparents Day?
© 2008 Nathalie Roy
