Page 24 - Seniors Today - July 2021 Issue

First Person

Happiness is….

Being a Grandparent

Vandana Kanoria examines the symbiotic benefits of having grandchildren,
even as she revels in the pure joy of their presence

“Perfect love sometimes does not come
until the first grandchild,” an Irish proverb.
No one prepared me for just how much
love I would have for my grandchildren.
They come as little bundles of joy wrapped
in pink or blue swaddling clothes – you
hold them and your heart melts. The little
fingers that clasp yours, soon become arms
that squeeze you around the neck and you
want to hold them, protect them, and never Twentyfirst-century grandparents are
let them grow up. more about running shoes and less about
Close grandparent-grandchild rocking chairs, more about Twitter and
relationships are often a marker of strong Instagram and less about bhajan mandalis
family ties, but these intergenerational (although that can be fun activity with
bonds come with their own distinctive young grandkids). But no matter how
benefits. “It’s the only relationship in which hip, cool and trendy a grandparent is,
people are crazy about one another simply they are that person in a child’s life who
because they’re breathing,” says Dr Arthur delights in their existence and loves them
Kornhaber, President of the Foundation for unconditionally.
Grandparenting. For grandparents, relationships with
He says that grandchildren and their grandchildren provide connection with a
grandparents usually “have an adoration much younger generation and exposure
and unconditional love and joy in one to different ideas, which might otherwise
another’s existence.” be limited. With internet and pop culture

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