Grandparents

I was very sorry to hear Yvonne’s grandfather died today (also the anniversary of my father-in-law’s death).

They were very close and she wrote a lovely letter, you must take a moment to read.

My grandparents died when I was fairly young, my paternal grandfather when I was 10 and my mother’s parents when I was 19 and 22. While I wouldn’t have wished them any extended suffering, I sometimes wish I had been older when they died, I really didn’t know what I had and I think I would have appreciated them more, or at least differently.

I also wish I had been more cognizant of what my mother (an only child like me) was going through when she cared for both of them. I was a typical self-centered young adult and certainly didn’t get the magnitude of the situation for her.

I know there’s nothing I can do now and I was probably doing just what I should have been doing at that age, but if I could go back, I’d do things differently.