Not me
In a suburb of Milwaukee in the summer of 1969
I was sitting on the front porch of my girlfriend Nancy’s house.
It was a warm summer night, and two male high school friends pulled up in their car.
They yelled out to us that they were going to a music festival in upstate NY, and did we want to go?
I said “Are you crazy? I have to work at the bakery 3 days next week!”
Yes…….I missed Woodstock, and unfortunately, that’s not me in the picture.
The Birth of Boomer Grandparents.com
I’ve decided to do my utmost to keep my brain challenged. I keep reading that in an effort to prevent Alzheimers I need to do crossword puzzles or sudoku to keep my brain healthy. I’m tired of hearing “mom seriously, this is the THIRD time I’ve told you this…” or….”honestly mom, you’re going into a home and we’re NOT going to visit you!!” from my 2 sensitive and adoring 30-something daughters. Unless I’m in an airplane I don’t seem to have much time for crossword puzzles, and anything math related gives me anxiety attacks. So what did I choose to do? I started this blog.
My early 50’s were filled with the highest highs and the lowest lows. I moved to California from the Midwest. It was my first out of state move, and I had just turned 51. The move wasn’t necessarily the low, at least not at first, but it was rather traumatic. It might not have been as traumatic had the next event I’ll tell you about not happened…The event that threw everything out of whack for me was the arrival of my first granddaughter.
I hadn’t given grandchildren much thought at the time she decided to make her appearance. I knew I’d have some, (I have 2 daughters and 3 stepsons) but I thought it would be in my future. I had a lot of other things on my plate at the time, like getting settled in a new house, making new friends and trying to get used to the fact that no one in our area of northern CA seemed to know how to make a decent pizza or good hard rolls.
I’m one of those people that talks to babies in grocery stores. I’m the one that toddlers often hang over the back of booths in restaurants and wave to. I LOVE babies, and I LOVE little kids. My 1st grandchild’s arrival happened years before I thought it would. And, horror of horrors, never in a million yrs. did I expect to be on another side of the country when she made her entry into the world.
“Q” was born in August of 2004. In February of 2008, we welcomed her baby sister, “T”, and brother “W” joined the family in June of 2011. Since their arrival I’ve weathered the challenges of being a far away grandparent pretty well. I’ve learned that while grandparenting from a distance isn’t the best scenario, it doesn’t have to be terrible, and with a little creativity it can be fun. Grandparenting in this digitized 21st century however, could make you crazy.
I decided to begin to blog for a couple of reasons. I’ve learned a lot in these past years and my friends and family seem to have found some humor and interest in how I’m dealing with the challenges being a long distance grandparent presents. My main goal when “Q” was born, knowing I wouldn’t be just a few miles away from her was to figure out a way for her to KNOW me. My grandkids will be raised in a communication overloaded era of cell phones, text messaging, computers, email, Facebook, Twitter and Skype (and God knows what other social networking surprises are coming) As a soon to be senior and retiree, maintaining a relationship with them is a priority to me. I don’t think they’ll be interested in writing me letters, or just talking on the phone. I better get with the program.
That in a nutshell is the reason I gave birth to Boomer Grandparents. I’ll share my experiences with you, hopeful that you’ll share your experiences with me.
