Today would have been my grandma's 95th birthday. She passed away two years ago. I'm 27 and don't have any grandparents left. My DH has one side, so my LO will get to (hopefully) know great grandparents. I think that is so special as I never knew my great grandparents. So my questions are...first of all, did you know any of your great grandparents?
Will (do) your kids know their great grandparents?
Re: Great Grandparents
I didn't know mine. Both my dad's paternal and maternal grandparents died in WWII fighting in the war or in concentration camps in Germany, Poland and Ukraine. My mom was a "mistake" and her mom had her when she was 45 years old. By the time I was born, her grandparents were long gone.
My paternal grandparents are still alive... my Opa has MS and won't be around much longer, but my Oma is as healthy as a horse - no end in sight there. My maternal grandpa died when I was 10, and my maternal grandma died a few months ago... She only met DD once, but I am so, so, so glad she did!
Yes, I knew my great grandparents on my mom's side, my father's grandparents died before I was born. I have some fond memories of them - sitting on the front step of their house with my great grandpa and trying to take my teeth out too, great grandma's excellent cooking...)
My children have 3 great grandparents on DH's side and 2 on my side that are still alive. Unfortunately we live across country from our families so my kids will not know them well. They have met my grandparents but not DH's; his family just isn't as close as mine.
I knew one of my great-grandmas, but she died when I was about 6. I don't remember a lot, but I do remember a few special things. I never knew my great-grandparents on my dad's side. My grandparents were older when they had my dad, and their parents were long gone by the time I was born.
DD knows 2 of her great-grandmas. Well, KNEW my grandma, because she just passed away. She knew Mamaw and loved her, but she won't remeber her before long I am sure (besides what we tell her). She also knows FIL's mom, and sees her once every 2 months or so. I see her being aorund for at least 10 years, so DD will probably know her well. MIL's parents are both alive, but have never met DD, and I don't know if they ever will. They don't want to be a part of their own kids lives, and sadly I don't think that is going to change.
I knew my Dad's paternal grandmother very well. She baby sat me when I was little from time to time; however, she passed away when I was 11. Her husband passed away 4 years before I was born. I also knew my mom's maternal grandmother but she was so NOT soft and cuddly she even insisted that her grandchildren call her by her 1st name. She was a pretty crappy mom. My grandmother was raised by her grandmother.
I only have 1 grandmother left (mom's mom) and she has Dementia so it's highly unlikely DD will know her very well. She's 79 & in a memory care facility.
My grandma (my dad's mom), DD and I get together about once a week or so. DD will know her well for as long as she's alive.
I barely know my mom's mom. She abuses alcohol and is a chain smoker etc. She was in and out of my life growing up but I really don't know her and DD won't either.
My dad's dad and step mom are lovely people. My inlaws moved to the other side of the country and it turns out that they live only a few minutes from each other. Such a small world. Now they all go to church together and we visit my grandparents when we visit his family. DD receives cards and gifts in the mail from them. They have always lived far away from me so I didn't/don't know them well but I do know how kind and good they are and DD will at least know that about them.
As far as our kids go, DH and I each still have our maternal grandmother. His is in failing health so we're unsure how well our girls will get to know her. Mine lives in Oklahoma so we only see her once or twice a year.
Currently going through our second deployment. Can't wait for Zoe to meet her daddy!
I have vague memories of one of my great-grandmothers, but that's all.
My maternal grandmother is still alive, as are DH's paternal grandparents. DD sees them one or two times a year.
DH has 1 grandma. My nana died the year before LO was born. I always catch my self thinking, "oh nana would love what he just made". Or, "oh we should bring that to nana". I guess thats pretty werid because she died almost 3 years ago, and she never met LO. I never really got really sad or upset when she died. I mean i was sadden of course but never like so heartbroken, you know? Until LO was born, i am sad that she missed/is missing all of this, all of him. I just think she would be totally smitten by him.
My other grandparents died when i was like 6 and 7 and my grandfather died before i was born
Wow, your last great grandmother was 10 years younger than DH and my grandparents! You're lucky to have gotten to know a great grandparent, I didn't even know any grandparents let alone greats!
I only knew one of my great grandparents(my grandma's mom). However she was diagnosed with Alzheimers when I was 6 and passed away on my 10th birthday
Both sets of my grandparents are still living. We see my mom's parents a couple times a month and my dad's parents about once a month. My kids are close to both sets of great grandparents. H's grandparents(his mom's parents are also still living and we see them once a year. My kids know who they are but are not close to them. FIL's dad is still living as well but he lives in Australia so I don't know that they will ever meet him.
H's great grandmother just passed away January 2011 so my kids also had a great great grandma they met a few times. We have pictures of them with her which I think is really special. She also crocheted both of them a blanket when they were born that both use as extra blankets on their beds.
I knew one Great Grandma very well. She lived until I was 18. I remember one of my other great Grandma's - she lived 3 states away, and the ONLY time I remember meeting her, I was 4, and she had suffered from a stroke, and the side effects scared me (I also remember her funeral about a years later - although all I truely remember is Fruit Stripe gum, extreamly hard church pews and the sight of her in a casket). I know I met at least one other great grandparent, but I was a baby when she died. My one great-grandma was remarried, and I do remember her second husband - he died less than 2 years ago. I don't think I met any of my great grandfathers.
DD met all of my grandparents, but will only remember 2 of them - one died when she was 18 months old, and the other died this month, but she hadn't seen him since she was an infant. My paternal grandfather is very close, and we see him at least monthly. My maternal grandmother lives 3 states away, and we see her 1-2 times a year.
On DH's side, she has met 3/4 of his grandparents (one grandfather died when DH was a child), but won't remember any of them, unfortunately.
As for DS, I can only hope he gets to know my surviving grandparents - they are awfully amazing people.
We see my meemaw every week just about, and we'll see my Papaw on Christmas!
I knew one of my great grandmothers. She died at the age of 104........
My last living grandparent died when I was around 18 years old. My kids will never know great grandparents.
I didn't know my great grandparents. DS does and is very close to his ''Nana" which is his great-grandma (DHs grandma).
DH's parents actually hate on her because she is so close to DS. They are evil jealous beings!!
Cam 6.6.10 - Autism, Global Developmental Delay, Mixed Receptive/Expressive Communication Disorder
I remember my great-grandfather on my mom's side (her dad's dad). I know that I had at least one great-grandparent on my dad's side too. I'm pretty sure one of my dad's grandfathers was still alive. Maybe his wife too? But I don't remember them at all. They died when I was very young.
3/4 of my grandparents are still alive. My mom's dad died last year, but we're actually estranged from them anyway. I grew up knowing them, but DS has never met them. DS knows my grandma and grandpa on my dad's side though. Hopefully they will both be around long enough for him to have memories of them.
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I had one great grandmother that was still alive and she passed when I was 7 or 8. I remember her pretty well.
All of my grandparents have passed by my husband still has all four alive. We visit all of them every couple of months. His paternal grandfather will probably pass sometime next year though, as his health has been declining for quite a while.
I had 4 grandparents, and 3 of them had died before I was born. My dad's mom lived until I was around 17 I think. She would be like 105 now or something.
So, no, my kids will not know my grandparents. However, my husband has 3 grandparents that are still alive. We see them occasionally. They are about the same age as my parents.
My kids also have a very close relationship with my parents and DH's parents.
Both of my Grandmas are still living. They live about 6 hours away. We will be making a trip to visit them for NYE. DH's Grandma raised him. She is now in a nursing home about 25 mins from us. She has Alzheimer's. We visit once a week at least. So DS has been around them. We know that it's likely they won't be around much longer, so we want to spend as much time with them as possible.
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Nope. Both of my grandfathers died before I was born. My paternal grandmother died when I was 3 and my maternal grandmother when I was 9. All of DH's grandparents died before I even met him.
DH's dad died before we even got married and his stepmom died last year. So DS only has 3 living grandparents.
My great grandparents on my mother's side were still alive when I was a baby, but died the next year. My great grandma wrote a letter to me, however, that I read for the first time when I turned 18. I still cherish it - she talked about the Red Sox.
My kids won't know their great grandparents, who are all dead now. I hope my older daughter will at least have memories of my grandpa, who passed away last month. He wasn't too mobile, but he was quite affectionate, and always talked about how much he loved all his grandkids and great-grandkids.