CELEBRATING GRANDPARENTS EVERYWHERE – THANK YOU FOR BEING THERE FOR SO MANY OF US. SEPT. 9, 2012 - By N’Zinga Shäni

[N'Zinga Shani]

In 1979 President Jimmy Carter signed Public Law 96-62 designating the first Sunday after Labor Day as National Grandparents Day.   He said many grandparents "bore the hardships and made the sacrifices that produced much of the progress and comfort we enjoy today. It is appropriate, therefore, that as individuals and as a nation, that we salute our grandparents for their contribution to our lives."

According to CalendarUpdates.Com, the history of Grandparents Day can be traced back to 1961 with the efforts of Mrs. Hermine Beckett Hanna. Hermine made it her goal to educate the young in the community to the important contributions senior citizens have made, and to the important contributions they are willing to make if asked. She also urged the young to adopt a grandparent, not for 1 day a year, not for material giving, but for a lifetime of experience and caring just waiting to be shared with others.

Marian McQuade of Oak Hill, W.V. is credited with lobbying for a national observance of Grandparents Day. The statute cites the day's purpose as: "... to honor grandparents, to give grandparents an opportunity to show love for their children's children, and to help children become aware of strength, information, and guidance older people can offer."

Many of us would not be as successful as we are today had it not been for some wonderfully loving, giving and dedicated grandparents, surrogate grandparents and great-grandparents.  In fact, some of us would not have made it out of childhood had it not been for those grandparents who sacrificed for us and protected us.  so many children had to be rescued by grandparents from ill-prepared  parents. 

I was extremely fortunate to have both loving and supportive grandparents, but also a truly wonderful, inspiring and loving great-grandmother who raised me for the first 10 years of my life. 

Without question, she has been the greatest positive influence on me until this day.  

• She taught me to read and to LOVE learning. 
• She impressed upon me that literature and history were important in understanding the world around me. 
• She taught me how to count, add, subtract, divide and multiply numbers before I went to school. 
• She taught me that self-respect is compulsory before we can respect others.
• One of her most lasting lessons is that I should allow no one to dictate how I behave; that decision must come from within me.  That has been a guiding force that were especially useful in my teen years, and is still a bedrock in my values todays.

Let us take a few minutes today and every day that we can to thank those who have functioned as grandparents to us and to our children.  They play a more important role than we often recognize or appreciate.

LINKS TO A FEW WEBSITES HONORING GRANDPARENTS DAY

•  http://www.grandparents-day.com/  NATIONAL GRANDPARENTS DAYS
•  http://grandparentsday.org   - WEBSITE FOR GENERATIONS UNITED
•  www.aarp.org/relationships/friends-family/grandparents_day
•  http://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/procla...
• Opinion: Honoring Grandparents On Their Day.  Today is National Grandparents Day, but perhaps grandparents should be honored every day.
•  http://newportbeach.patch.com/articles/honoring-grandparents-on-gra...