Although it is natural to celebrate our grandparents every day, it is also nice to designate a special day for special appreciation too. An effort to do so nationally began with 9-year-old Russell Clapper writing a letter to President Nixon in 1969.
It wasn’t as easy as just sending a child’s letter to create a national holiday though. In 1973 a resolution was introduced in the U.S. Senate that died in committee. There was significant advocacy after that by Marian McQuade, who got 43 states to proclaim their own Grandparents Day. Eventually, in 1978, legislation was passed and signed into law by President Carter in August designating the first Sunday of September after Labor Day as National Grandparents Day.
The statute states the purpose as: “…to honor grandparents, to give grandparents an opportunity to show love for their children’s children, and to help children become aware of strength, information, and guidance older people can offer”.
At Garden State Trust Company, we know that grandparents often wish to create a lasting legacy for their children and grandchildren, and sometimes do so through the use of trust services. Trusts celebrate family values, making it more likely for those values to persist over generations. Grandparents Day should also focus more on the task of helping children become aware of the strength, information, and guidance they might receive if they are willing to listen.
This article from the AARP has some nice ideas about how to do just that, which we would expand on a little with some ideas on the next steps.
Family time — first steps
The first thing that comes to mind is spending more time together. Spending the day together. One could have a meal or barbecue in person or have a virtual call or phone call to catch up and ask for stories.
Family time outside — next steps
A specific activity can sometimes break the ice for shy children who don’t see their grandparents often. Participating in a grandparent’s hobby allows the grandparent to mentor in the hobby itself, to create a shared interest and provide tips. It could be gardening, knitting, golfing, coin collecting, or crafting. These types of family hobbies can give time to chat as well, and if nothing comes to mind a new hobby could be created for both parties to share in the adventure of trying something new.
Family historian — first steps
Many of us, usually later in life, start thinking more and more about where we came from and perhaps where we are going. Unfortunately, we usually don’t have a family historian who has put all that information together and can easily share it with us when that interest piques.
The AARP article suggests creating a family tree for Grandparents Day for tracing the genealogy of the family. This could be the start of a great hobby together, and even lead to traveling to visit the family roots at some point in the future.
Family historian — next steps
Documenting your own history and sharing it with a grandparent through photo albums and videos is fun since it can give a grandparent a way to connect and react throughout the year. The article mentions https://sendheirloom.com, a site to create a video album to send.
This could spark stories about the family history, but you might also consider adding a scrapbook of memorabilia to the mix. The family could add to it every year to turn personal histories into shared histories. What used to be a physical scrapbook could now involve photos and videos.
Even better could be figuring out a way to glean great stories and preserve that knowledge. The grandparent may not be around forever, but the “strength, information, and guidance” can be preserved through the knowledge of their life and story. The difficulty often lies in knowing what questions to ask, but there are companies that are helping with that. For example, the company Storyworth provides email prompts throughout the year with questions about a big day or something as simple as a favorite food and then compiles those answers into a book for the family later on. More affluent families may even contract with a ghost writer to interview them to document their story and create a memoir just for the family!
Family time capsule — first steps
Be inspired by the Grandparents Day forget-me-not flowers. Many of us may remember putting together a time capsule in school, only to be opened 25 years later. Many of us also may have not returned to ever open that time capsule.
This could be an annual project on Grandparents Day, and you could decide whether to open the time capsules each year, three years apart, or five years apart. They wouldn’t need to be buried, and could include written notes about the future with aspirations, or experiences you might otherwise forget from that year.
Family time capsule — next steps
Another way to do the time capsule each year is through https://www.futureme.org. This way would be digital, and couldn’t be lost (assuming the company stays around). You write emails and they are sent to you on a time delay. According to their website they have sent over 20 million emails so far.
We hope you have a great Grandparents Day and find a wonderful way to celebrate and continue to connect.
