Grandparents

Yesterday I was talking with my mother about her father. I've been reading some of his old letters to my grandmother, and they're both witty and adorable. I don't see much of a difference between the grandpa I knew growing up, and the young man writing the letters to his sweetheart.

We talked about how this was because the good humor of a young adult seems to revive itself when one becomes a grandparent. My mom is a grandma now, and the way she interacts with my own child is very different than how she treated me growing up. Grandparents are supposed to be fun and silly and then hit the bricks when there needs to be discipline or any tough stuff. Not that they're not capable, just that they're the fun not-parent. And who wants to re-live the messy and distressing parts of raising a young child again in one's 50s or 60s? It should just be the fun parts.

That's how we honor our parents as grandparents. Give them the fun parts and they'll give 'em right back to the kids. That's what I remember about my grandparents. Just loads of fun and love.

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