The Value Of Grandparents...

I speak often of how lucky I have been in my life to have lived in a time when five generations of my family were alive. The hard part over the years has been saying goodbye to many of them. I take small comfort from the idea that they are all a part of me, in some way, and I of them. Like the Beatles' song, "In My Life," I think often of yesteryear, and look back fondly on the family dinners, holiday celebrations, the laughs and the tears.

Something I don't think I talk often enough about are my maternal grandparents, Grammy and Grampy; ages 68 and 72. It was not so very long ago when they became first-time grandparents, in their forties; and they could hardly have foreseen how our lives would turn out...

As a disclaimer I must point out that I can hardly complain about the quality of life my sister and I had as a children. We were very well provided for, and had a good home, an abundance of love, and no wants...except maybe to be grown-ups. However, my relationship with my father was always a tense one. My father was a great believer of the antiquated phrase: "Children are to be seen and not heard." I must admit that this sad little philosophy did at least develop good manners, and people often remarked to our parents how well behaved we were in public; in the house was another matter altogether, but this entry isn't about that specifically.

It is sufficient to say that my father and I have not spoken in many years. In fact I doubt that we ever will again speak in this lifetime. After all he put me through as a child, I simply have nothing left to say to him. The bright side to all of this is that I was never at a loss for for fatherly love. It just came from a different source, and that source was my grandfather.

In all of my life, for as long as I can remember, my grandfather has given me complete and total unconditional love. He has indulged my every craziness, encouraged my strangest fixations; pocket watches, skeleton keys, and trains just to name a few, and he has always been there for me.

Several years ago my grandfather was diagnosed with prostate cancer. He underwent surgery with success, we thought the cancer was gone. However, it crept into his colon and started to fester there until several years later when he had another surgery. This one, however, left him with a colostomy. To prevent the cancer from spreading the surgeon had to cut up my grandfather's bowels and re-direct them from his rectum to a small bag on his abdomen. The surgery was brutal, and it has left him without the ability to digest some of his favorite foods like oranges, nuts,and popcorn. Not even this sad consequence to his continued health could get him down. Right after the operation, he booked flights for us all to go to Disney World. We all had a blast!

Unfortunately this colostomy has brought other problems. There have been six incidents so far where he has had bowel obstructions and they required hospitalization to clear up. One such incident is still in progress now. At this very moment, my grandfather is lying in a hospital bed at the Lahey Clinic. He is receiving care and treatment to pass the most recent blockage; and while he is not in urgent or critical danger, I worry about him.

I don't think I say enough how much he means to me. My grandfather has worked hard his entire life to support his family. His small real estate agency, Harvest Of Homes in North Andover, Massachusetts has seen some highly prosperous days. Of course with the current economy things are not going so well, but he and my grandmother still work very hard at it. It upsets me so much to see my grandparents suffering right now, when they should be enjoying the fruits of their labor and not having to worry about health complications.

What I think is most important for me to express right now, is how proud I am of my grandfather. I am so proud of both of my grandparents, and I know that I cannot have them in my life forever, but for now I am so happy for the time I have had. I do not know what my life would have been without the love of my grandparents. And in my child-like hope I'm going to ask God to let them live forever, because I simply don't know what I would do or who I would be if I were not Ron Landry's grandson, or Rosemarie Landry's grandson.

So if you are reading this, and you are still someone's grandchild, be thankful, and cherish it because it cannot last forever. And if you are reading this, and your grandparents have left this life behind them, then be very proud for having had them because no one can ever truly measure the value of grandparents.