Bonds that Strengthen

Friday was “Grandparent’s Day” at my grandchildren’s school.  First, there was a delightful program in the auditorium and then a tour of the campus. It was a lovely day, and as I watched grandparents interfacing with their grandchildren and saw their excited faces, it brought home how important relatives are to children, and how the extended family provides the bonds that strengthen.  Through them, a child has roots.  They help define who he is, where he came from and perhaps where he is going. Grandparents, aunts and uncles can enhance the story and history of a family as well as provide wisdom, direction, guidance, and of course love. And when they are absent, the nuclear family is poorer for it.

My daughter once told me that one of the reasons she tried to walk the straight and narrow was because if she didn’t, she’d have to face her grandparents and all her aunts and uncles.  Hilary Clinton once said that it took a village to raise a child.  I don’t believe it.  But it does take a family and I include in that, the extended family. 

It’s easy for grandparents and uncles and aunts to be caught up in their own lives. We live in a world that seems to whirl faster and faster with each passing day.  But in such a world it’s more important than ever to keep connected and to be part of the glue that strengthens those we love.

Until next week,

Sylvia