Two weeks ago, I had the great pleasure of speaking with grandparents and grandfriends of our current students. It was a wonderful experience! I so love to share with grandparents the school their grandchildren attend, our mission, values, and dreams, as well as all the going ons of the place. At CSW, truly there is joy in being among diverse people and making friends and connections for life. Our students also receive so much love and encouragement from the adults around them, teachers, advisors, and coaches, and I wanted their grandparents/friends to know that, too. Most of all, here at CSW we strive to have each student be themselves and work to become who they are meant to be, and I know how much grandparents can play a part in that goal.
A current grandparent, Gerry Abrams, gifted me a wonderful book his wife, Carol Abrams, co-authored, Grandparents & Grandchildren: Shared Memories, and at our Grandparents Day event, I read a section of the introduction that went right to my heart and spoke to me:
Several years ago when her grandfather died, my daughter, Tracy, commented wistfully, "No one will ever smile at me again the way that Poppy did." Her bittersweet lament was both touching and illuminating. For although Tracy had been brought up thousands of miles away from her paternal grandparents, and had infrequent visits with them and little in common with their everyday lives and interests, she nevertheless believed with absolute certainty in her grandfather's unparalleled love.
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But whatever the disparity in experiences, one universal theme runs through all the relationships we encountered: The grandparents and grandchildren we talked with love each other unconditionally. There is an absence of the expectation, rivalry, and tension that exists in parent/child and sibling relationships. It's been said that grandparents love their grandchildren "just because they're breathing." One young granddaughter confirmed this, describing her grandfather's feelings for his grandchildren as "He's just glad we were born!"