Grandparents Get Involved
- Ideas for Grandparents
Family History Scroll
from A Grandpa's Notebook
by Meyer Moldeven
The extended family's history scroll is shipped
from one relative to
another in a mailing tube. Each family adds a paragraph
or so about
what happened to them since the previous go-round
that might be of
interest to others. Generally, the messages are
hand scribed, but may be
typed and snapshots pasted on or attached with
plastic adhesive tape.
When a scroll becomes too large for easy handling
it may be retired and
stored with one of the family members and a note
added to the next
scroll stating where the preceding scroll is stored.
What's In It for the Grandparents?
Long-term studies of large communities offer evidence
that individuals
with strong family and social ties tend to be healthier
than who live in
isolation.
A conference of doctors and social scientists
proposed a theory that
altruism, particularly when the helper observes
its benefits, can reduce
feelings of helplessness and depression and thus
enhance health. Also,
persons who came in direct contact with those that
they aided reported a
strong and lasting sense of satisfaction, even
exhilaration, an increased
sense of self-worth, less depression, and fewer
aches and pains.
Relating the theory to the theme of these notes,
what a grandparent gets
back often depends to the value he or she places
on, and the efforts he or
she makes toward building positive intergenerational
relationships. If
family has significance, then interacting with
a grandchild, near or
faraway, manifests that significance and the returns
it generates.
Returns imply investments.
As grandparents age, their investment is
transformed into a return. The return contributes
vitality, vibrancy and
enrichment to a grandparents latter years.
|
Email this page to a friend
