How long did you have your grandparents?

[AngieBelle]

My dad's parents were gone long before I was even born. (Dad had lost both parents by his early 20s) My mom's dad died of cancer when I was just over a year old. (The story goes that my parents sneaked me into the hospital to see him when I was a baby.) So the only grandparent I really knew was my mother's mother Rose who lived until cancer took her the summer I was 8.

It's so sad- I know people older than me who still have their grandparents, and I always feel a bit envious. Rose was a wonderful and interesting woman. She hitch-hiked across the country as a young woman in the 30s! I didn't know about that until long after she was gone.

So, how many of you were lucky enough to get to know your grandparents?

 

[mickeyboat]

I had all four of my grandparents until I was in my late 20s. They were all alive when I got married, and 3 were alive to know that I was a mother two times over. I lost my last two grandparents 3 years ago just a couple of months apart.

We did not live close to them while I was growing up, so I did not get to know them well. But they were wonderful grandparents just the same.

My DDs lost one grandparent when they were 2 & 3. They are getting ready to lose another one at 9 & 10. Their other grandparents live far away and it is really sad to me that they are not going to grow up knowing their grandparents.

 

[SC Minnie]

I had all my grandparents until I was 18. My first GM died then and the others died when I was 23-26. Two of them died 3 months apart the same year DH and I got married. It was very upsetting planning for them to be there to see us get married then they weren't.

I only had one grandparent get to meet DD but he had already been 'taken away' from us by alzheimers.

 

[C.Ann]

Let's see..

Grandpa on my dad's side died when I was around 4.
Grandma on my dad's side died on my living room couch in 1969.

Grandpa on my mom's side died when I was an infant.
Grandma on my mom's side died a month before I got married for the second time - she was 96..

 

[apirateslifeforme]

I was VERY lucky in that I grew up with my mother and my grandparents, in the same house. And yet, I feel like I didn't have them long enough. Grandpa died on Christmas Eve 1998, when I was 24. He was my "dad," so to speak; my real father was absent from my life. Gram died in July 2007, 6 days before my 33rd birthday. I miss both of them terribly

 

[JessicaR]

My Mothers Mom died when I was 5 and I have wonderful memories of her. My Mothers Dad died when I was 12.

My Fathers Dad died when I was 35 and My Fathers Mom lived the longest. I was 42 when she passed. I had a wonderful relationship with her and I miss her terribly.

I consider myself extremely fortunate to have had each of them as long as I did.

I am sorry you didn't have your Grandparents in your life. Are there mementos, pictures that help fill in the blanks?

I recall a poster sharing some letters from a Grandparent a while back, was that you? I think it was interesting letters of what they had done and where they had travelled to. I can't remember many specifics but recall it was very heartwarming.

 

[Randi]

I was in high school when my dad's father died. The next one I lost was my mother's mother when my 2nd son was 1 yr old. My oldest son knew her since he was 7. Then there was a long span until my dad's mother died. And lastly, my mother's dad died in 1981. My oldest son was in high school at the time.

When I was growing up, both sets of grandparents lived in the same town that we did. I had bedrooms in each house so I divided my time among all 3 houses. We always spent Sundays together. I was an only child and so were my parents, so we were a close knit family. Each grandparent was special to me and I learned so much from them.

 

[AshleyW]

My maternal grandpa died when I was 18 - he was 62.
My maternal grandma is still alive, she's 60.

My paternal grandpa is still alive, he's about 65 I believe - but will probably pass soon, he has kidney failure and is on dialysis and isn't doing very well.
My maternal grandma is around 65 and is as healthy as a horse.

I'm 22 now, and I anticipate having my remaining grandparents around for awhile.. they had my parents when they were young, and my mom had me when she was fairly young, so I've got a pretty young family. My mom is 45 and still has her grandma (she's 82), which I think is awesome.

 

[piglet too]

I am 36 and feel blessed to have all of my grandparents still alive. My great-grandparents (on my dad's side) were even alive until I was in my early teens. My grandparents are all in their mid-late 80's now.

 

[live4christp1]

My grandpa (dad's side) passed away when I in 7th grade
My granny (dad's side) passed away when I was about 14/15
My pa-pa (mom's side) passed away when I was 20
My nanny (mom's side) passed away when I was 25

DS was born in 1997 and DD in 2003. They never got to know any of them.

 

[lovin diz]

I am 32 and 2 of my grandparents are still alive. My dads mom died when i was 17--she was wonderful. Her and my pawpaw lived next door to us all of our lives. I was at their house just as much as my own....Still till this day, i miss her so much.

My moms dad died 4 years ago this week. (we were all such a close family) even though they lived about 45 mins away, we were still very close. I miss him dearly also.

 

[dawson5]

maternal great grandfather died when I was 11 of leukemia
maternal great grandmother died when I was 16, old age. She was 90-something

maternal grandfather died 7 years ago, heart attack. He was 82
maternal grandmother is still alive, 87

paternal grandfather died when I was 6. i don't know his age.
paternal step-grandfather died 15 years ago, don't know his age.
paternal grandmother died last summer, she was in her mid-90's.

My husband's paternal grandmother died when I was pregnant with our oldest, 17 yrs ago. Don't know her age. He did get to see his paternal grandfather and went to his funeral when he was a young boy. I don't think he ever met his maternal grandparents, or if he did he was too young to remember them. I know the grandmother was around for his brother, but he's a good 5 years older than my husband and they moved from Pennsylvania to Ohio and rarely made it back there after moving.

 

[Kitty 34]

Weird you asked as I was just thinking of this earlier this morning!

Anyway I was.....
10 when I lost my Grandpa (paternal)
18 when I lost my Greatgrandfather (maternal)
33 when I lost my Granny (paternal)
34 when I lost my Greatgrandmother (maternal)
47 when I lost my Grandma (maternal)

 

[MerMom60_94]

My maternal grandfather died when my mother was pregnant with me. My maternal grandmother died two weeks before I turned 32. My paternal grandfather died six months later (I was still 32). My paternal grandmother just died a few years ago when I was in my forties. I am trying to remember exactly which year but it was within the last five because I took my DD to meet her when DD was about 10 and Grandma died a year or so later. I was so greatful she got to meet one of her great grandparents. Unfortunately, she lived out of state so she only got to meet her that once.

 

[jx3smom]

I was pretty lucky. I was in my mid 20's when I lost 2 grandparents and 1 in my early 30's. My grandfather died when I was young but I had a step (mean) gradfather that also passed when I was in my 20's.

DS # 3 isn't so lucky. My mom passed almost 8 years ago and she was his caregiver while I worked. My dad passed a year ago Dec.5 and my MIL passed at age 67, 6 months ago yesterday.

 

[Sgt Mickey]

My dad's side
My Grandma died when I was 10/11 from breast cancer. My Grandpa when I was in 12th grade. My Great Grandparents died a year after my grandma (her parents) so I used to see them alot.

My moms parents
Grandma died the year after I graduated high school and my Grandpa died when my mom was 5.

My dh is 35 and his last surviving Grandparent was his grandma and she just died a few months ago after her 80th bday.

 

[Praying Colonel]

My paternal grandmother died when I was 12. My paternal grandfather died when I was 17. They lived a fair distance away and weren't in good health, so I saw them once or twice/year and didn't know them that well. Honestly, I don't remember much about Nanny, except she was nice to me and got very sick with emphysema when I was 8 or so. What I remember about Poppy was that he was very, very sweet to me and always had a pack of Teaberry gum on him. Whenever I see that stuff at Cracker Barrel in the "vintage candy" section, I think of him.

My maternal grandfather died when my mother was only 6. Now my maternal grandmother, she's 89 and still moving right along. Growing up, she lived about 15 minutes from us and babysat us a lot. We joke that she's going to outlive us all.

 

[charming23]

I never knew my Dad's Dad, he passed away right before my parents found out they were expecting me.

My Dad's Mom passed away when I was 9.

My Mom's Dad passed when I was 14.

My Mom's Mom is still around and will be 90 in January.

 

[claudia]

my mom's mom died when I was 3.
my mom's dad died when I was 20.
my dad's mom died when I was 47.
my dad's dad died when I was 16.
all my great's died before I was born.

 

[Hoodie]

My paternal grandmother died when I was 8 at 56 from colon cancer. I'm now 36 and still have the rest. I was very lucky and still had two great-grandmothers (both maternal) until I was in college. One passed when I was 20, the other when I was 25 (at the ripe old age of 98 and I still think she just decided she was done. She was still hauling tree branches and working in her garden that previous summer.) Oh - and my living grandmother (86) gets mad at all the "old people" she encounters everyday. They slow her down.