Grandparents Say The Darndest Things!
There have been a few posts floating around in the blogosphere about grouchy gramps and funny things grandparents have said.
Some are pretty funny and I appreciate the humor. And I am not making fun of being old when I say that. I am approaching my “curmudgeonhood” faster than I like. Some of my family accuse me of having already reached it. But I don’t take it on their word. Aches and pains and getting dropped by bike riders who shouldn’t drop me communicate it loud and clear.
I do genuinely love old people and enjoy talking with them. Even the grouches. When I was visiting my mother in an assisted living center a few years ago I stopped in the TV room and struck up a conversation with one.
Me: How are you today?
Lady: Not very good.
Me: I am sorry. What is bothering you?
Lady: I’m tired. Go find somebody else to cheer up.
They sometimes can say funny and even rude stuff. If anyone can earn that right, I guess they have.
There is also a ton of good advice and tid bits of inspiration that grandparents have given. I am talking about the wisdom they shared that has stuck with you. I am sure there are thousands of stories. I would also love to hear those.
I was fortunate to have lived within walking distance of my maternal grandparents when I was a child. They both survived into my adulthood. After finishing graduate school and working for awhile, I decided to take my young family and move back to the family farm while I tried to figure out what I wanted to do with my life. I moved there just before Christmas.
Grandma had died just a few months earlier. Grandpa had pretty much gone downhill after that. He had dementia or his prescriptions were causing him to see things that weren’t there. I don’t know all the reasons but he would at times believe things were going on around his house that just weren’t happening. His mind was not always working coherently.
Springtime came and he continued to decline. My mother and her sisters took care of him but he refused to leave his home. He needed foot care. His daughters would daily bathe his feet and put some type of dressing on them. My mother and her sisters had to be gone for some reason so his care fell to me for a few days.
One day Grandpa was sitting in is his rocking chair and I was on the floor working on his feet. I don’t remember much of what we talked about or if we even talked much at all. Grandma was generally the story teller and talker.
I was caring for his feet and at one point we looked at each other and he said, “Once a man twice a child”.
One short statement given at the right teaching moment gave a young man more perspective on life and growing old than a thousand lectures would have ever done.
That has been 25 or more years ago. I have never forgotten that experience.
Tags: aging, grandparents
June 19th, 2008 at 9:13 pm
Now this is a great post
June 19th, 2008 at 10:35 pm
I agree wholeheartedly! Well-written and with a message. Would be nice to see more recollections from your dairy farm days. Seems like you had a glorious childhood…
June 20th, 2008 at 9:26 am
This was a beautiful post and so true. I treasure my grandparents while they are alive and think about them often after they pass.
June 20th, 2008 at 2:07 pm
Know what advice I seem to remember most from Grandpa? ” Whenever you are out on the road driving, just figure the other guy out there is a darned fool.” His way of telling me to drive defensively I suppose. I think of that everytime I see a driver do something stupid–which is getting to be more and more often. The good thing about that is that I get to think of Grandpa often.
July 1st, 2008 at 2:35 pm
Super post…
My mother in law has so many wonderful interesting stories that I would like to some how document… She is in her 70’s now… And when she starts talking about the war… & how things were in Norway during the “olden days” I am memorized.
We can learn so much if we just take the time to listen….