Community Chat

[halfpint1]

I never knew them and didn't see any pictures. As for grand mothers only one wasn't around long to know and the other never knew.

[GCR18]

I grew up with both grandfathers.  I agree they were both in the background and the grandmothers were in the forefront.  I don't have any surprising memories.  We spent more time with the material side of the family going places and doing things.  I can remember going to the country every summer and having picnics and family time.

[daisyk]

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@LilacTree wrote:

Unfortunately, I never had a grandfather.  They both died long before I was born.

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Me too, and my dad died when I was 12. I get a little envious of others sometimes but it is what it is and I've been fortunate in many ways.

[Drythe]

Seems that many of us did not have the opportunity to know our Grandfathers.

My Paternal Grandfather died when my father was 11.  My Maternal Grandfather came home from WWII in very poor health and died not long after my birth.

Wish I had known them.

I was blessed to know both Great-Grandfathers and adored them.

[VanSleepy]

All four of my grandparents had passed away before I was born, but I have some good memories of my father and my son together.  It was so nice to see him with his grandfather.

[spix]

I was very fortunate, we lived upstairs of my paternal grandparents, tho my grandfather was kind of distant, he became quite the great grandfather, openly showing love to my children, & telling stories of the times of his young life.

My maternal grandparents served spaghetti dinner every Sunday & I guess it was mandatory to attend as we always did, but not my father, my grandfather made the pasta & he loved showing us his results, there were so many of us that individual attention was not to be had, he treated us as a "group" but he was a sweet man.

Most of the extended family is now gone & I miss them & the old days.

My husband's family were never much for "family" so they really didn't enter into the picture much at all, I tried for Holidays, etc, but it was not to be

Wishing you all sweet memories of family or sweet dreams of what could have been.

[Vivian]

My grandfathers were old fashioned Eastern Europeans who showed very little interest children. I was very surprised when my father's father said a couple of things to me. I married very young. At the rehearsal dinner, my grandfather, who loved good scotch and had downed a few, said to my parents, "Thank God we're getting rid of the old maid." It was totally politically incorrect but he meant it in ironic jest. I'd never seen him crack a joke before.

The second incident was far more meaningful. It happened when my daughter, his first great grandchild, was born. He said to me, "Just remember it's far better that she should cry than you should cry." He meant that kids can carry on but if a parent is brought to tears, it means something dreadful has happened. I've repeated that advice to my children when they had their own children and to my friends, many of whom have repeated it to others.

[wilma]

I never knew either of my grandfathers. My mother's dad died before she married my dad. He worked on the railroad and had a serious leg injury that became infected which finally took his life around 1940. My dad's father died a year or two before I was born. My sisters said Grandpa was "scary", and that he doted on my brother because he was the only boy. 

[fourpaws56]

never met my Grandfathers.....died before  I was born,as with one of my Grandmothers....the other one was a crazy ole b in a home...

[Kalli]

My maternal grandfather fought in WW I.  He was gassed (mustard gas) during the war and said it changed the color of his eyes.  When he came home, he went to South America to work in the sugar cane fields.  Saved his money, came home and married my grandmother.

Paternal grandfather was a character.  At 90, he met a 60 some year old woman, lied about his age, telling her he was 80.  She married him and took care of him until he was 99.  He never went into a nursing home.  She cared for him at home until his death, 5 months short of turning 100.