Becoming a Grandparent Is a Special Gift

When the author was raising her children she focused on that stage: the work, sacrifice, and daily survival of parenting. Letting go at 18 felt like the end of a job. Over the past 17 years she's found that when children leave, the family changes shape rather than shrinking. You don't lose a child — you gain a child's partner and grandchildren.

Becoming a grandparent was described as receiving the best part of your child: their child. The author contrasts the experience of birthing her own children with witnessing her child give birth. Both were meaningful, but different. When her first grandchild was born she chose a grandmother name — "Mimi" — because she did not want to be called "grandma." She became a grandmother at age 55 and remembers the day each grandchild arrived as especially significant.

# The holiday's origins in plain terms Grandparents Day was declared a holiday in 1978 by President Jimmy Carter. The date is observed the first Sunday after Labor Day each year. The holiday followed Marian McQuade's campaign that began in 1970 to raise awareness about senior citizens and the value of intergenerational connection. McQuade promoted an initiative called Adopt a Grandparent to encourage ongoing relationships, not a one-day gesture.

The holiday has symbolic elements: the official flower is the forget-me-not and the official song is Johnny Prill's "A Song for Grandma and Grandpa." The author notes that when she became a grandmother she did not consider herself a senior citizen and chose a name that reflected her identity and relationship with her grandchildren.

# Practical ways to celebrate Grandparents Day

Organize a special family dinner. Use the occasion to gather, speak to the grandparent in their preferred love language, or enjoy a hobby together. Concrete suggestions include shopping together, making a handmade gift, or writing a card with words of affirmation.

Adopt a grandparent. If you don't have living grandparents or yours have passed, find someone to honor. Visit a nursing home or reconnect with a person who has played a grandparent role in your life.

# Closing reflection Becoming a grandparent is framed as a genuine gift — a chance to see life continue and to form new, different relationships with the next generation. The holiday provides an annual reminder to call, visit, or otherwise honor those relationships, and the author's personal choices (choosing the name Mimi, celebrating births) give concrete examples of how someone might make grandparenting feel intentional and joyful.