Importance Of Grandparents??

[puddicat]

Mines are gone along time ago,never met my dads dad he died very young,my mums parents died in my early teens also my paternal grandma, i so wish that i could have been learning from them good or bad,my dad was in the forces so i wasnt even near them,no stories to hear and no lessons to be learnt o well!!!

[ummmm]

I also feel a little bitter that my Nan & Grandad are still alive (mum's side) but my Dad is dead.

It's the 1st anniversary on Saturday.....just in case my mood swings....!!!!

[sqad617]

barmaid....what about paternal grandparents?

[Barmaid]

Awwww ummm, hope you have lovely memories on Saturday rather than sadness. xxx

Paternal grandparents are a different kettle of fish Sqad. My grandmother died when I was 3, so I don't really remember her. My grandfather was a cantankerous old bu99er who scared me rigid and died when I was 16. He was a typical old fashioned mysogynist farmer who ascribed to some rather old fashioned and out dated views (he was still living in Queen Victoria's reign). Had he been alive today, we really would not have got on particularly well, because I would have felt inclined to argue with him (unlike my poor mother whom he irritated beyond words because he was so rude to her, but she never ever said a word to him). Even my father now accepts that he treated my mother appallingly.

[sqad617]

barmaid.....simple times, simple philosophies, the man was the boss and provider and the woman was in charge of the home. Things have changed, some not for the better.
I rather like the idea of a cantankerous old bu99er, at least you know where you stand. I am always suspicious of "nice people" you never really know what they are truly thinking.

[sleepy1j]

i never knew my dads parents both died b4 i was born .my mums parents wasnt that near to us so never had much to do with them ...my parents live over the rd from me so that means my kids are very close to them .

[craft1948]

Never knew my paternal grandparents - I was born in Yorkshire but my father was a Shetlander. His mother died when he was about nine and his father was murdered when I was about 6!!

[puddicat]

tell us more craft???x

[tamborine]

I reared my unwed big sister's child while she worked abroad.

My neice still turns to me instead of her own mother even tho neice has own family. I check with sis before I communicate with neice. Even have to send them separate emails to date when neice is now 45 'cause they constantly abuse each other. Sis fears being left 'in care' of daughter in her dotage.

[craft1948]

don't know much more puddicat. My Shetland grandad owned a hairdressing business in Lerwick - he'd decided to retire and sell up but did not trust banks and used to keep the money on him!! One night he was found floating in Lerwick harbour without the money - no-one was ever caught. I actually saw a photo of him for the first time a couple of weeks ago which was sent by my cousin who was born in Lerwick. Considering that at that time the Shetlands were very different from today (pre oil days), and the majority of the Shetlanders were fishermen/crofters he was an extremely dapper looking man.

[NoMercy]

I only ever knew my mum's parents. My grandad was a spiteful man (we used to call him the Ayatollah) who detested women and thought they should all be seen and not heard. He even gave my mother a 'hiding' in front of me when I was 4, and then threw her out onto the street in the freezing, pouring rain. However, when my younger brother died 5 years ago, I saw him break down and cry. It was the first time in 27 years I'd seen him express an emotion that wasn't sheer uncontrollable fury. When he died a couple of years ago, there were 11 people at his funeral - that tells you all you need to know!
My nan, by stark contrast is the most amazing person ever, though she can't ever get our names right. She has often called me Rocky, Jasper and Son. Rocky was a Jack Russell, Jasper was a cross between an alsatian and a bull dog, and I'm definitely the wrong sex to be called 'Son'.
lol.

[Barmaid]

lol Sqad. I know times have changed, but in some ways, there is a need to move with the times ever so slightly! His boys had the best of everything. His girls were expected to do no more than make good marriages to other local farmers. He was terribly disappointed that my mother had two daughters before she deigned to deliver a son (for which he blamed her)!!!!!! The way he treated my grandmother when she was dying from cancer was also quite shocking.

As for being a cantankerous old so and so, he just hated everyone and moaned constantly. He was only ever at his happiest when he had something to moan about.

Still, he was an interesting personality and I often think I shall write a book about his family.

[craft1948]

My maternal grandad was like that - all he used to do was work - home for dinner - pub - hit grandma. This changed slightly when my oldest uncle laid him out!!

[pinktwink]

knew my grandparents most of my life. My dads parents died in my late teens and early 20's didnt really get on with them though. Love my mums parents and my gran of 85 is still going strong. I love talking about the old times with her and her life. She is everything you would want a gran to be and half raised me as we never had a babysitter. I would be lost and devastated without her and feel priviledged to still have her