Are/Were You Close to Your Grandparents?

[MIGrandma]

While growing up I was extremely close to my maternal grandparents. Often we would make the 90-mile drive up to their house on the lake (they lived there year 'round) for the weekend, or they would come to our house for the weekend. Mom and I would spend a week with them in the summer, and when I got older I would spend another week with them by myself. I remember one time spending the week between Christmas and New Year's with them as well. Loved spending time with them. Grandma was a wonderful cook and was always making/baking something and we would "visit" as she worked. I went out fishing with Grandpa often, in fact when he was getting bad with emphasema (sp) it was I who rowed the boat "for the last time" so he could fish before they moved to a senior citizen apartment building near where we lived. And even after I was married I would spend a few days with them in the summer. Loved watching The Wonderful World of Disney, The Lawrence Welk Show, etc. with them and Michigan Out-of-Doors with Grandpa. Grandpa always had those little round pink Brach's mints in his pocket to share, and Grandma had a candy dish filled with horehound candy. They are both gone now, but I have so many wonderful memories of special and great times with them.

My paternal grandparents are the opposite though. Never met my paternal Grandpa as he passed away before I was born, but don't think I would have liked him much as he was a child abuser. My Grandma was a sweet woman, but I think I only saw her 3 or 4 times in my entire life as she lived in Texas. Even when we would visit she was always so busy cooking for everyone that I never, ever spent any "one on one" time with her. I have a quilt she made for me (she made quilts for all of her grandchildren and she had 9 kids so she had a lot of grands!), and photos but that's all. I wish I could have known her better, I so regret that.

So, are/were you close with your grandparents?

 

[The Mystery Machine]

No. We lived in a different state. Now near the end they 2 of my grandparents came to live with us and we got to know them better.

My materal grandpa was also an abuser (kids & wife) and an alcoholic. He died when I was 1 month old.

 

[eliza61]

Very much so. Probably closer to my maternal grandmother (maternal granddad died when mymom was small) than my paternal grandparents.

I spent summers during my youth at her house and when she got older she moved to NYC.
My dad was from the south and it was segregated so he refused to step foot in his home town until Jim crow was abolished so I didn't get to visit his parents (except once or twice) until they too moved to NYC.

I have wonderful memories of my entire family though. I'm blessed to have a large close knit family. some rotten apples in the bunch but as a whole we're very tight.

 

[design_mom]

No. Three of my four (all except my maternal grandmother) died before I was born. My maternal grandmother (died when I was 12) was not very grandmotherly. We only saw her a few times a year until she got sick, although she only lived about an hour away. She never took interest in us. After she got sick, she moved in with us. She spent her time with us telling us how rotten we were compared to our cousins. Apparently, when she saw our cousins, THEY were the rotten ones and WE were the angels, but we didn't figure that out till many years after she died.

I am fortunate that my kids are growing up with two sets of involved grandparents. My mother has even said that she strives to be the kind of grandparent that we never had. And my kids are lucky to still have a very sweet great-grandmother from my husband's side.

 

[Andtototoo]

Yes. I was very close to my maternal grandparents my entire life. I spent many post-school afternoons (their factory shifts ended at the same time school did, so I often walked to the corner and met them) and many Sundays with them. I credit them with 99% of the happy memories from my childhood, to be honest. I was close to my paternal grandparents until my grandmother got mad at my mother when I was 15 and she cut off all contact for years with everyone. Our relationship never recovered from that.

 

[tvguy]

All my Grandparents but one were gone by the time I was born, and that one Grandfather lived thousands of miles away and passed away before I ever met him.

Only my mom was still alive when my kids were born, but on my wifes side, they knew and were close to their Grandparents (and step grandparents), and 3 of their 4 great grandparents, and 2 step grandparents.

 

[snapppyd]

No. My maternal grandmother died when my mother was only 4 . My paternal grandmother died when my dad was only 16 . My dad's father died way before I was born and I think I was 3 when my mom's father died, so I don't remember him.

 

[mommasita]

I only had the gift of a maternal Grandmother. But it was one I cherished until she passed away when I was 15. She was the ultimate hero for me in many ways, and there hasn't been in a day in over 25 years I haven't thought of her.

So yes, is my answer. I would have seen her every day had I could.

 

[babyrich]

My mother's parents died before I was born, so did my other grandfather. My other grandmother was in my life until around 12, my parents separated and she disowned me and my sisters. Called us some pretty lovely names too. Once she realized how awful her son really was, she tried to reconcile; but my mom told her to ........ (use your imagination )

 

[punkin]

My grandmother (maternal) lived with us almost my entire childhood. She was the smartest person I ever knew. I was very close to her. My grandfathers both died before I was born. The last time I saw my paternal grandmother was when I was 8 yo. Both she and her son decided not to contact me after we moved. I know they had their reasons, but to a child, that's unforgivable.

 

[WorldWacky]

Yes, very close to all of them. As a kid I was lucky enough to have both sets and a great-grandma still alive. I can remember going to stay over at my maternal grandparents'(Grandma and Pappy's) house on Saturdays and going to church with them Sunday morning. I am the oldest and once my sister and brother were born, I think all three of us were a bit much for my grandmother. We then started staying over more often at my paternal Grandparents' house. Every weekend. We loved it! Grandpap would get us Panter's cheese balls and Pringles and Grandma would let us stay up to watch StarSearch. Dinner every Sunday with the whole family too. We were all in Pittsburgh and not too far away from one another.

As an adult, I spoke on the phone often to both sides. My paternal grandparents passed away when I was in HS(Grandpap) and 2010(Grandma). My Pappy, just passed away Nov. 17th. Fortunately, we went to visit the weekend before he died and had a wonderful joint b-day party for my 3 kids at their house. He sang all three verses of happy birthday...Happy Birthday, Many More and God's Blessings to you.

I'm happy to say my kids are/were(my inlaws have passed) also very close to their grandparents even though we live out of state.

 

[wdwmom0f3]

Yes, and I charish the sweet memories. My maternal grandparents lived in a house on the street behind us. They were the sweetest people you could have ever known. We were at their house maybe more than at our own. My daddy would take them on vacations with us and to our lake house too. We were all very close. I called her every day until the day she died. I called my papaw a lot too. I miss those phone calls. I miss them every single day, and I also thank God daily for them because they were amazing.

We were kind of close to my daddy's parents, but we didn't see them as much. We would see them for Christmas and other holidays with an occasional visit in between but my granddaddy wasn't the nicest man in the world. Very uppity uppity and rude. He mellowed after my grandmother died but by then it was to late. In the end he reached out to us but we all felt like it was out of guilt. He never once told my dad he loved him until my daddy was on his death bed. That bothers me till this day.

My grandmother was an amazing woman though and we loved her a lot. She was so funny and fun to be around until the minute he would walk into the door and then things would change. Looking back, its sad to think that she must have been controlled by him. I didn't understand that when I was young. I miss her a lot, but I rarely think of him much and when I do it tends to be negative.

 

[BreeBree]

I was very close with my grandparents. My parents would travel out of the country a lot for my dad's business trips, so I would stay with them (alternating both sets) for a few days each month. All of my grandparents have passed away now, and sadly my children never got to meet them, but they are very close to my parents and my husband's parents. Grandparents are a lovely thing

 

[Pakey]

Yes, I was very close to them. I saw my paternal grandparents every day and my maternal grandmother at least once a week (my maternal grandfather died when I was 1).

My grandparents passed when I was in my 30s.

 

[FlightlessDuck]

My maternal grandparents died before I was born, and I regret now not being closer to the remaining brothers and sisters who were alive when I was young.

I was very close to my paternal grandparents. They lived on the other side of town and we saw them frequently.

 

[HelenePA]

Oh my moms side yes! I lived in the same village (basically it was one street of maybe 75 houses) as 3 sets of grandparents, one grandparent and 2 great grandparents along with various great aunts and uncles. I had such an awesome childhood I can't not even being to tell you lol My kids are just the opposite all of my family is dead and his have been MIA from our family for over 5 years (their choice).

 

[njmom47]

My cousins and I were pretty close to my maternal grandparents (my mom and their dad are siblings). They moved to Florida when we were little but would come back to NJ and spend the summers here. They lived with us or with my cousins/aunt/uncle every other year. They finally ended up buying a mobile home nearby so when we were old enough to drive out and spend the day with them.
My grandma passed away in 83, grandpa passed away in 86, but I was in my 20s by then. I remember Grandma for her serious tan, red fingernails, always smoking a cigarette, but she was very sweet and loving. Grandpa, otoh, was a State Trooper and a tough guy, although he had a GREAT sense of humor.

As for my dad's parents, I never met his mom as she passed away before I was born. His dad, my PopPop, lived until 1981 and was this little old Italian grandpa, accent and all. I remember him fondly as well, although we weren't that close with him growing up.

 

[FireDancer]

Yep, especially my grandma and great grandma from my mom's side. My brothers and I used to ride our bikes there all the time. I even lived with them while I was putting myself through college.

 

[kt_mom]

I was close to both my maternal grandparents and my paternal grandmother, my grandfather died when my dad was a kid. We all lived in the same town.

I spent a lot of time with all of them and was even pretty close to my paternal great grandmother and great great aunt who lived with my grandmother when I was a kid. My uncle lived in Hawaii and my grandmother spent a few weeks out there several times a year with him and my parents and I would go and stay at her house to help take care of my great grandmother and great great aunt who lived there.

We usually had Sunday lunch at maternal grandparents house every Sunday and I spent the night there a lot as a kid. Her sister, my great aunt lived in Florida and we visited almost every year and she would come up here for a week or so as well, so I was pretty close to her too.

My kids spend a lot of time with my parents so they're pretty close and we visit DH family several times a year and the kids are close to them as well. I wish they could spend more time with his family but its hard to work out sometimes.

 

[java]

Yes and I miss my Dzadju everyday. He was my Mom's Dad and the nicest person I have ever met in my life. He was the perfect Grandfather. Took us to get ice cream sodas at the drug store in the city. They lived in Greenwich Village so it was always cool to visit. Even as a teen I would often go in by myself and stop off to say hi. My Grandmother, his wife was funny too. She was so generous. I loved visiting with the 2 of them. And miss them both dearly. I have many of their things around my house. My favorite is the White ceramic pair of horses- she used to hide her money up the butt of one of the horses and she would crack up every time she would pull it out!

My Paternal Grandfather died when I was very little. I don't remember him at all. My Paternal Grandmother was a pip. She was single for many years and a party girl. She was a world traveler. I always thought she was the coolest. She would buy me things from all over the world. And she bought me my first diamond necklace from Harry Winston "because a girl deserves beautiful things" She really taught me to take care of myself. Miss her so much too.

We don't spend as much time with my children's Grandparents because we are all over the place- but my Dad lives close by and the kids spend some time with him. My Mom is moving very close next year because she feels like she is missing out. It will be nice. I like her husband and they are also party people.