megram - Index

megram - 55JunOttawa - Index

about what differences they observed between grandmothers
and grandfathers. It seems that grandfathers
tend to play outside with the grandchildren and grandmothers
make the meals, read them stories and put the
children to bed. Grandmothers also do the planning
(what will they eat, do they have the right clothes, let’s
bring a snack in the car,we need to be back for naptime).
So we have a few tips for grandfathers. Keep up the good
work and:
Take the initiative: plan things and spend time alone
with the grandchildren.
Teach them something you are good at and love to do.
Learn to listen and ask questions: get to know your
grandchildren.
Read our book!
Last year, my husband and I were taking three of our
grandchildren for the weekend at a time when I was travelling
extensively for my consulting practice. Arriving at
the airport on a Friday evening, I was greeted by my husband
and three grandchildren to discover he had bought
all the weekend groceries, made up the extra beds, bought
June 2008 • 47 • Fifty-Five Plus Magazine
Eulogy for a Perfect Grandfather
“He was not a special-occasion grandfather. He
was not someone we only saw at Christmas and
Easter or spoke to over a long-distance line on our
birthdays. He was there for me every day of the
week, for 33 years.To recount memories of Grandpa
would be to tell you the stories of our lives. So
instead I have chosen to remind you of what it felt
like to be with Harold, our grandfather.
It was that time when you felt safe.
The time when someone laughed louder than
you did and the time when you were stunned by
someone’s overwhelming generosity.
The time someone sat in the stands to watch
you compete and cheered you on, and that brief
moment when you actually believed the world
revolved around you.
It was that time you realized some people really
do have perfect hair and perfect smiles, and the
time you’d heard that story once too often.
It was the time someone read a book to you,
took you fishing, sang you a song or bought you
skates.
The time someone inexplicably had a sailboat
on their front lawn or painted their garage floor
bright yellow.
It was the time you saw a man who was so
much more than he ever believed he was.
It would take me another 33 years to tell you
how sad I am at this moment. So I’ll finish by saying
I recognize that men cannot be perfect.However
I do believe that certain special individuals are
capable of doing something perfectly. And Harold
was a perfect grandfather.
Delivered by Judd R. on the occasion of his grandfather
Harold’s funeral.
pumpkins for carving and planned the whole weekend’s
activities. On Sunday evening after the children had said
their last good-byes, I turned to my husband and said how
pleased and surprised I had been that he had planned and
coordinated such a full weekend. He looked at me and in
a bemused voice said,“Well, I did read your book!”
Mary Jane Sterne and Peggy Edwards are the authors of
Intentional Grandparenting: A Boomer’s Guide,
(McClelland and Stewart, 2005). Available from your
favourite bookstore or online at www.Chapters.Indigo.ca.
The authors live in Ottawa and have 19 grandchildren
between them.