On Sunday September 10th, we as a nation celebrate “Grandparents Day”. This is a special day to recognize the life giving contributions that grandparents make to so many families. Grandparents are the vital link to the past family history and they transfer the riches of tradition and heritage to the younger generations that follow. They are a source of knowledge and tender love that completes a family in so many ways. They may not be the best in using modern technologies, but it was their efforts that provide us with the tools and toys of modern technology that we take for granted as part of our lives today.
Grandparents have completed their God given task and responsibility to raise their children into the parents they have become for their grandchildren. Their time spent with their grandchildren is mostly a time of sharing, good counsel and unconditional love, that is generally released from the burdens of responsible parenting and discipline, often giving way to so-called “spoiling”. However, one can never spoil a child with too much love, attention, and understanding.
On this Grandparents Day, we need to take time to recognize and pay tribute to our Grandparents. We need to show how much we cherish and welcome their love and presence within our families, and not discard their wealth of wisdom. We need to also give them the support and assistance they may need in their daily struggles as age and infirmity may be taking its’ toll. They have given so much, and they so often ask for nothing or so little in return. Their hearts are made full by the sights and sounds of grandchildren, as they see the fruits of their labor and their love living on in the spirits of joy that consume their grandchildren.
So, whether your grandparents are alive or deceased, living nearby or far away, within the grasp of a hug or at the other end of a face-time call, take time to reach out and say “I love you.” Say it directly, say it over the phone, or say it in prayer, but say it. It’s that love that you share with them that will sustain them now and continue through time eternal and join us all together again someday in the heavenly family of God.
May we all, young and old, have a happy and joy filled Grandparents Day.
By Deacon Jerry Jablonowski, Executive Director
VITALity Catholic Healthcare Services