GRANDPARENTS ARE VERY SPECIAL PEOPLE
Commentary 
Courtesy of Bill Ellis
Syndicated columnist

Were it not for grandparents none of us would be here. My two                               grandmothers and my                            maternal grandfather                                 lived into their 80s. I                               never knew my                                    Grandpa Ellis. He died                              when my dad was nine                                   years old so I never                                 knew much about him.                                      As a child and                                   teenager, I did not ask                              much about him. I wish                                  I had.

As we approach Labor                                  Day, I realize and know                                  from stories I did hear                                     that my grandparents                                 and my parents were                                 well acquainted with                                   and accustomed to                                        hard manual labor.                                     Grandpa Ellis dealt in                               cattle as well as selling                                beef from his meat                                 wagon. Grandpa Perry                                was in the timber                                business primarily for the Carbon Fuel Coal Company.  Grandmothers took care of managing the home that meant cooking three meals daily, mending and washing clothes and canning fruits and vegetables in the summer and fall months.

Labor Day in the coalfields of West Virginia was a very special day.  Safety Meets were a part of the day, especially in the morning hours as coal miners went through demonstrations of how they care for those injured in mining accidents.  The day might include a political speech and/or a baseball game in the afternoon.  Dad, told me of the year when the featured speaker was Lowell Thomas, the famous radio newscaster.  He appeared at Decota, WV, in eastern Kanawha County, at the head of Cabin Creek.

Grandparents Day, like Mothers Day, originated in West Virginia.  Marian McQuade of Oak Hill, WV, has been recognized nationally by The United States Senate and President Jimmy Carter, as the founder of National Grandparents Day.  The first national Grandparents Day was observed in 1978 and every year since on the first Sunday after Labor Day.  It is observed on the same day in both the United States and Canada. 

Charles R. Swindoll, in his book, Come Before Winter, (Multnomah Press, Portland, OR, 1985), writes the following about grandparents.  “Grandparents’ favorite gesture is open arms and their favorite question is, ‘What do you wanna do?’ and their favorite words are ‘I love you, honey.’  They don’t look for mistakes and failures; they forgive them.  They don’t remember that you spent your last dollar foolishly; they forget it.  And they don’t skip pages when they read to you . . . nor do they say ‘Hurry up’ when you want to see how far you can make the rock skip across the lake.  They’ll even stop and lick an ice cream cone with ya.

“But best of all, when you want to talk, they want to listen.  Long, loud lectures are out . . . so are comments like ‘You ought to be ashamed of yourself’ and ‘That’s stupid!’  It’s funny, but you somehow get the impression that things like money and possessions and clothes aren’t nearly as important as you.  And getting somewhere on time isn’t half as significant as enjoying the trip.

“Isn’t God good?  Generation after generation He provides a fresh set of grandparents . . . an ever-present counterculture in our busy world.”

Celebrate Grandparents Day on Sunday, September 13, by visiting your grandparents if possible.  If you can’t do that, send them a card, write them a letter, e-mail them and even better, give them a call so they can hear your voice.

Ask your grandparents many questions, especially about your parents when they were little and do remember to ask them about life when they were children and teenagers.  They can tell you some terrific stories.  Ask them everything you can think of.

Grandparents are very special.  Thank them for their guidance, direction and sacrifices.  Kitty and I love and enjoy our five grandchildren.

 
© 2009 Wm. C. Ellis
All Rights Reserved

Bill Ellis
Award Winning Syndicated Columnist
P. O. Box 345
Scott Depot, WV 25560
Phone: 304-757-6089
www.BillEllis.net