Grammy Tanda wrote a mother’s day post about the lessons she has learned from her Grandmothers. And I’ve been thinking about the lessons I’ve learned from my two Grandfathers and from reading about the lives of my other ancestors.

I was fortunate to know both of my grandfathers when I was young. They were an important part of my life. They both lived in the same city where I grew up. Over the years, I have grown to admire and appreciate both of these wonderful men.

They were true pioneers, born and raised in the late 1800’s. They were men of integrity. Hard work was their friend. They built houses, planted orchards and gardens and flowers. They hauled freight with horses and wagons. My Grandpa Packer was also a rancher and a farmer. My Grandpa Webb owned a saw mill. He also made hundreds of thousands of bricks by hand.

Both of my grandfathers raised large families. They were good providers. They were religious men who taught their children honorable character traits, reinforced through their own examples.

In their older years, family gatherings and family reunions were very important to my grandfathers.

You have to do your own growing no matter how tall your grandfather was. ~Abraham Lincoln

I love being a grandpa myself. I follow in the traditions of my grandfathers, my father and father-in-law in having a fun time with the grandkids. They loved being funny, giving “horsy” rides on their knee, and back rides too.

I also love to play musical instruments with the grandkids, especially percussion instruments. We read lots of stories. We make up stories with the grandkids as the main characters. We tell funny jokes. A sense of humor is an essential requirement for grandfathers.

What are some of the valuable lessons you have learned from your grandfather? What do you admire and love about him? We look forward to reading your comments.

Wishing a Happy Father’s Day to each of our readers, fathers, and grandfathers.

- Grandpa Shayne

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Loving mothers and grandmothers give of themselves unselfishly. However, in the back of their minds they may sometimes wonder, “Have I taught them enough? Do they know this or that?” Sometimes on a discouraging day they may think, “Oh, I haven’t really made any impact on the world. I’m just a mom. I’m just a grandma.”

All I really need to know I learned from my Grandmother. ~Charles E. Smoot

One of the favorite gifts I have received from my adult children took me be surprise. The gift was a journal titled “Lessons I Have Learned.” They pointed out the kind of impact I had had upon them. They had filled in the first few pages — each of them writing about lessons they had learned from me that have been valuable to them — with the idea that I would finish filling in the journal with lessons I’ve learned. You know, preserving some of that hard earned wisdom we adults are always claiming we have.

Even though of my own grandmother died when I was young, I remember visiting her. I remember feeling her love for me. She always made me feel accepted for who I was and made me feel welcome and wanted in her home.

This year, I encourage you to take a few moments and write down some of those gems of wisdom you have learned from your grandmother. If she is still alive, you will surprise and delight her. Or share them with the special people in your life: your grandchildren, children, or parents.

By sharing the lessons that you have learned from your grandmother, you will not only validate her, but you’ll also let her know of ways she has helped you that she may never have realized. This can be a more personal and touching gift than a dozen roses or another knickknack.

What are some of the valuable lessons you have learned from your grandmother? We look forward to reading your comments.

Wishing a happy Mother’s Day to each of our dear readers, mothers, and grandmothers.

- Grammy Tanda

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Photo by Paul W

Up until about a century ago, when people left their country to settle in a new land, they would likely never see their families, parents, or grandparents again. The difficulty of distances were too great. Letters would often take months to arrive. Traveling home would have taken days or months, and was usually to too costly.

Today, with the blessings of modern technology, grandparents can keep in touch with their grandchildren easily.

Telephones, internet, mobile phones, smart phones, instant messaging, video phones, smart phones, video chats, VoIP, email, text-messaging, personal and family blogs and websites, photo sharing sites, other resourceful websites. We can fly across the country in the space of a few hours, and usually for less than the cost of driving.

We have technology, finally, that for the first time in human history allows people to really maintain rich connections with much larger numbers of people.  ~Pierre Omidyar

So, at the beginning of this new year, we wish to express gratitude for the blessing grandparents have of staying connected with family though technology. May you love and enjoy your grandchildren.

We want to wish our readers a healthy, prosperous new year. We are grateful for the opportunity we have of associating with you.

- Shayne and Tanda Packer

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A fun part of the holidays are family traditions. I want to share some tips for celebrating Thanksgiving to give you ideas for establishing your family traditions. Then Shayne and I will share our favorite Thanksgiving webpages with free resources for grandparents. Because as you know, the web is a world of discovery.

The first thing I think of about Thanksgiving is families getting together, sharing food, fun, and laughter. Food often reminds us of our favorite memories of Thanksgivings past. Relationships are being built while taking time to share favorite memories. Small activities give us opportunities to connect with our grandchildren in comfortable ways — while we’re setting tables, eating, cleaning up.

Take time to share memories with your grandkids of Thanksgiving when their parents were little, or when your were little. How it’s the same, how it’s different. Tell them what your parents and grandparents were like so they feel a connection with their heritage. Reminisce what their parents were like as children, and things you remember about your grandchildren as babies. Share family stories. Everybody has favorite family stories that get past around, embarrassing moments, silly times. Often, repeating those stories over meal times becomes a family tradition and builds fond memories.

Many families have traditional activities they share together — a family football game, a walk in the crisp fall air. One of the things my family did when I was a child was watch the Macy’s Thanksgiving parade.

One Thanksgiving tradition I started when our family was young is to set 3 kernels of corn by the side of each place. Each of person takes a turn telling 3 blessings they are grateful for. This idea represents the friendship the Native Americans extended to the Pilgrims in teaching them how to survive in this new land of America. They taught the English colonists how to grow corn and thus helped them survive their first year in Plimoth Plantation in New England. This led to the first Thanksgiving feast.

So, enjoy your family and your traditions. If you can’t all be together, use the blessing of modern technology to connect with your family this Thanksgiving. It’s all about making memories!

A happy family is but an earlier heaven. ~John Bowring

Grandpa Shayne and I have so much to be thankful for. We will be enjoying Thanksgiving with 3 of our married children and 5 of our grandchildren. Even though it will take us all day to get there, it will be well worth the trip. ♩♬♪ Over the river and through the woods to our grandchildren’s house we go. ♪♫♩

We express our gratitude for you, our dear readers and friends. We wish you a delightful Thanksgiving holiday with your family and loved ones.

- Grammy Tanda

Now, enjoy these links to our favorite Thanksgiving web pages. (Hint: right-click or command-click the links to open them in a new tab so that you can refer back to this article.)

• Plimoth Plantation for Kids - coloring pictures, stories, recipes…
• Disney Family.com – crafts, recipes, printables, decorations, games…
• Disney Famliy.com – how-to videos
• SandwichINK.com - Thanksgiving fun making handprint wreaths, trees…
• SandwichINK.com – more Thanksgiving ideas
• GrandmaIdeas - Fun Thanksgiving games to play with your grandchildren
• GrandmaIdeas – Make cute Thanksgiving holiday decorations (edible)
• GrandmaIdeas – More activities to do with grandchildren on Thanksgiving
• Joan Adams – Fun Thanksgiving Songs
• BeTheWeightYouWant - make pumpkin bowls and dip, eat with ginger snaps
• Peggy George – Thanksgiving Scrapblog and inspirational online movie link
• The story of how a Thanksgiving Prayer became a Family Tradition
• Nana – Gratitude, The Power In Being Thankful For Life!
• Thanksgiving Day photo greeting cards create memories for grandchildren
• Teddy Bears should be Given to All Children

We welcome your comments. Tell us about the Thanksgiving traditions your family share.

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