Father’s Day is this weekend, and it is time to celebrate all of the fathers in our lives and the lives of our children. If a child is lucky, he will have the opportunity to enjoy a relationship with not only his own father but the fathers of both of his parents. Unfortunately, I never met either of my grandfathers because they passed before I was born. I had a step – grandfather, but he passed before I was old enough to remember anything about him. My husband was able to enjoy a relationship with his grandfather when he was a boy, and it is clear that the memories that he has of his grandfather are treasures that he holds dear.
I am very happy that my sons are building close relationships with both of their grandfathers. One set of grandparents lives right down the road, and the other lives three hours away. Both grandfathers see their grandsons regularly and it is clear that both the grandfathers and the grandsons enjoy their time together. Grandfathers, like all grandparents, provide diversity in the lives of their grandchildren. The things that my boys do with their grandfathers will be different than the things that I do with them in our day to day life at home and that’s a good thing.
Blake is only ten weeks old, so he has not yet had many experiences with Grandpa Terry or PaPa Jim that he can call his own. Dylan, on the other hand, is two and a half years old and has spent time doing all kinds of things with his grandfathers. He has navigated playgrounds and restaurants with PaPa Jim and he has raked leaves and harvested potatoes with Grandpa Terry. He loves to talk about his grandfathers, and I am sure that they also have fond memories of the times that they have shared together. I am grateful for my father and for my husband’s father not only for what they have done for my husband and I as our fathers, but for what they are doing for their grandsons as grandfathers.