Now that I am a slightly plump grandma, I feel right at home because my grandmothers were not skinny. At least, that is my reasoning. Although as I pass by a mirror, I often wonder who that strange old lady is that stares back at me. I still feel like the same young girl who used to be slim and had unlimited energy. Where have the years gone?
Can you picture your grandmother skinny with manicured nails, dyed hair, wearing the latest styles in mini-skirts or shorts? Maybe you can, maybe she was one. I never saw my grandma in anything other than a plain house dress and apron unless she were going out, then she took the apron off. How did our society evolve into the expectations today for the svelte grandma, all hip and not a hair out of place? Give me the good old fashioned days, except I don’t have the energy to do all my grandma did when we came to visit. Cooking and baking up a storm, she never forgot a birthday. You could count on a cute card and a dollar bill inside for all special occasions. I knew she loved me more than any of the other grandkids, and they probably felt the same.
Traditions are to be broken I suppose. We each become the type of grandparent that we knew or create our own unique style. It seems to me that grandmothers AND grandfathers are still needed in our day and age as the source of unconditional love and undivided interest in their kid’s offspring. Grandparents build self esteem and bind us together as a family. It doesn’t really matter what they look like.
Let’s not forget the grandpas, many were missing in my family because of death or divorce. They left a gap that couldn’t be filled. All grandkids need their steadying influence as an example of what they can grow up to be or the type of individual they could marry one day. Fat or skinny––grandpas are needed as much as grandmas in our society today with so many single or divorced parents raising their families alone.
Take the time to visit your grandparents if they are still living or be the type of grandparent you’d like to have or did have. Write their histories and your own, so their teachings and memories are preserved for the next generation.