[Misc] Grandparents

[Harry Wilson's tackle]

Sadly never really known the love of a grandparent. Three were dead before I was born, and I have only a very vague memory of my dad's dad as he died when I was pretty young.

Me the same. I knew only my mum's mum (born in 1898). My dad's dad was born in 1870. Fought in the Boer war! (As did [MENTION=528]attila[/MENTION]'s dad, I think - correct me if I'm wrong JB.)

 

[Boroseagull]

The one thing missing from my life - a grandchild - or 2,3,4 etc. Daughter wasn't interested until too late, and son happy to live with a women of 2x2 from previous partners and no further desire for any more. So sad not to have a younger generation to spoil.

 

[darkwolf666]

Wow! I don't envy you.

Living in Sittingbourne.

Just cos you're in posh Faversham - could have been worse, grandkids could have lived in Chatham, but they haven't got excess toes

 

[Harry Wilson's tackle]

Just cos you're in posh Faversham - could have been worse, grandkids could have lived in Chatham, but they haven't got excess toes

You should see what they say about me and mine in Canterbury! And they are so far East of London they are practically Belgian. Belgian!

 

[OzMike]

We lost the ones on my mum's side when I was young and as I never met my father I never had the benefit of knowing his parents.
Could be a case of not missing what you didn't have, so at least I have been spared that.

 

[Frutos]

Firstly, thank you all for the nice comments and well wishes - it proves once again what a force for good NSC can be in tough times.

To provide some context to my original post, yesterday was my paternal Grandad's funeral - he was 92 when he passed away, and was my last living grandparent. My paternal Nan died in 2005 after having had Alzheimer's for several years before - a horrible, nasty disease that I'd not wish on the family of my worst enemy - while I never had a relationship with either of my maternal grandparents as my grandmother on that side passed away long before I was born, and my grandfather only shortly after I was born, certainly when I was too young to have any recollection of him.

My Grandad and I had become closer over the last few years, starting when he invited me to stay with him for a while to help recuperate after I'd been in hospital for a significant length of time and also not long after we'd lost my grandmother - it did us both a lot of good and also brought us closer. That's not to say there wasn't a relationship before, I remember countless hours spent as a child with him playing with Lego, or him reading stories to us.

His funeral showed how much he was loved and appreciated by people outside of the family as well, there were about 70 people there including people from the church he used to attend and from the sailing club that he had been Commodore of about 30 years ago. What struck me most was that all of them seemed to know a lot about my brothers and I, our careers and lives, and we were told many times about how often Grandad would talk about all of us with pride at whatever we were doing - brought a tear to my eye more than once, as you can imagine.

Thankfully, Grandad was something of a hoarder and so we have a lot of things to remember him by, including a huge collection of books and photos from his life (including, according to the dedication inside the front cover, a book on aircraft that he received for Christmas in 1937!), as well as various ornaments, paintings and other objects that he'd acquired over the years, so although he may be gone we'll all always have plenty of reminders of him around. I miss him hugely, but he will certainly never be forgotten.

Sorry for the slightly rambling post, but it feels right to explain a bit about the remarkable man who caused this thread in the first place.

 

[Durlston]

Sorry to hear about your grief, Frutos. Stay strong mate and lovely to hear your memories of your grandparents.

 

[Change at Barnham]

I'm due to become a Grandad next week for the first time. Reading the posts above highlight what an important role it is in the life of a grandchild. I'm looking forward to it.

 

[Frutos]

Sorry to hear about your grief, Frutos. Stay strong mate and lovely to hear your memories of your grandparents.

Thank you.

 

[thabeska]

I never knew my dads parents, but was very, very close with my mum's parents. I lost my Grandma 7 years due to cancer and lost my Grandad last year, he had an accident on holiday and never recovered.

I spent most of my childhood with my mum's parents and have such fond memories. I now have two boys so my parents are now grandparents as well and they enjoy having the kids even if it's for 5 minutes for 5 days.

 

[goldstone68]

Miss my grandparents greatly, they brought me up as a youngster, pops was always making things and, nan always cooking treats playing board games and cards with me, when I had my own children we went around to see them every Sunday morning doing the same things, bless them.

 

[Perry Milkins]

Same goes for those of you out there with Mums and dads..do talk to them and show them some affection.

 

[SUA Seagull]

Same goes for those of you out there with Mums and dads..do talk to them and show them some affection.

Good advice BP. 3 of my grandparents died when I was very young, and one (who suffered from dementia) when I was a teenager, so I never had much quality time with any of them and my memories (of their suffering) sadly outweigh those of happier times, when I was even younger. As parents, my wife and I strongly encouraged my own son’s interaction with his grandparents, whom he adored, and vice versa. My in-laws lived 200 miles away and we didn’t see much of them but my parents lived locally so my son saw a great deal of them. He and his grandparents had their own special relationship and he learned to respect older people as a result; not just because of their age but because he appreciated all that they had been through (WW2, financial struggles etc) as well as the benefit of their life experience. He also saw my mum deteriorate from a healthy, vibrant woman to the point where she became incapacitated and suffering from aggressive dementia before she passed away. It was a right of passage for him in his teens, and he saw the stress it had on his parents too who had to make sure that life carried on for our family. Sadly, my parents and in-laws all passed away years ago but my son remembers them fondly and I am grateful that he enjoyed quality time with them. I’ve yet to become a grandad (hopefully I won’t have to wait for too many years!) and, if it happens, I will embrace that pleasure with unbridled enthusiasm. One thing I know for sure; my grandkids will all be mini-Seagulls!