Between the two boys, I have 5 handsome and intelligent grandchildren, very easy for me. No dirty nappies but I had the grandchildren one day a week and their parents looked after them during the rest of week. Plus grandma (me) was responsible for music events at school, walks though art galleries, and selection of history and travel journals.
Great grandson, born Ap 2026
Now a surprise! We are great grandparents! The baby was born last week, of average weight (3.2 ks) and reddish eyebrows and eyelashes like his father, grandfather and great grandfather. He is so handsome! My husband will take him to cricket and football matches, as long as I take the little one to the beach house and teach him to swim.
We understand that every family has to lose their grand parents, aunts and uncles, parents, siblings and cousins, and that eventually there is no choice but to get on with life as best as possible. We go to the cemetery every year on each anniversary but surround ourselves with photos in between time. Below is a photo of our 52 year old son who closed his business after the October War broke out in 2023 and volunteered to pick fruit on kibbutz while the young men went into the army. We are very proud of him for volunteering, but we miss him still.
Son volunteering on a kibbutz
just before he passed away at 52
Congratulation. My oldest grandchild is 10, so it will be sometime I will be great grandmother.
ReplyDeletePeppylady
ReplyDeleteBecause people marry later and have babies later, I too thought it would take a few more years. Enjoy the peace in the meantime :)
I could not find anything for Greats, but these blogs may be useful anyhow:
ReplyDeleteGrandma's Briefs
More Than Grand
Call Me Grandma
Grandma Williams
NanaHood
GrandparentsLink
Joe
Deletemany thanks. It will take me a while to read through your suggestions, but I am very glad that other grandparents (and even great grandparents) are keen to share their views about foods, activities, clothes, travel, the internet etc.
Congratulations Hels. Such lovely news and post to read. Rachel
ReplyDeleteRachel
DeleteI read your blogging interests and share almost all of them : art, Australian football, travel, geography, Eastern Europe, Russia, railways.. and European architecture :)
We lived in London and Herts for a few years in the 1970s, as all my Australian and New Zealand contemporaries did. But life may be tougher in the UK now than it was back then.
Welcome to the club! I am also a great grandparent, a boy 3 years old and a newborn girl 2 months old. Your great grandson is beautiful and will be the delight of your life.
ReplyDeleteRiver
DeleteI wish I had seen you had two great grandchildren in your blog. How are you managing with feeding, dirty nappies, baby sitting, giving advice to the young parents etc etc? I am afraid my vast experience is a bit old fashioned now.
Congratulations Hels, welcome to the Great, Great club :) Beautiful little one and it's good to visit those that have gone but we never forget them.
ReplyDeleteAre you a great grandma? When my son passed away 2 years ago, it never occurred to me that pleasure would come again. But now as I nursed the baby, I realised that youngsters are born for an important reason. To keep the family growing and to keep our joy alive.
DeleteCongratulations at becoming a great grandmother, and maybe there will be a number more to follow. It was a cruel blow that your son died. While I was full of grief and uncertainty at the time, you losing your son gave me some perspective at losing my 74 year old partner. Children dying in advance of their parents is awful. But, as you have discovered, renewal happens.
ReplyDeleteAndrew
DeleteParents should never have to bury their own children.. it happens often, but is never "normal".
Having new babies IS normal. Hopefully all the wars and diseases in the world disappear, making it a good world for today's neonates.
Congratulations, Hels!
ReplyDeletePipistrello
DeleteThank you :) I must say I put no sweat whatsoever in creating this pregnancy and delivery. Nor will I have to get up 3 times during each night to feed.
I just provide the baby clothes, toys and lunches. And accept the congratulations.
Mazal Tov on the safe arrival of your great grandson! Believe me, I know how much you miss your son. You have shared a lovely photo of him.
ReplyDeleteHandmade
DeleteMy daughter in law and grandson are alive and well in Israel, thankfully, but I hate hearing about them depending on their safe cellar to survive. I wish we could all live in good health and peace, enjoying new babies and simchas in the way every family deserves.
Congratulations becoming a great-grandparents would be wonderful my parents were proud to say they had 17 grandchildren and 15 great-grandchildren
ReplyDeleteJo-Anne
DeleteYour parents did so well, growing their family in good health and joy. I think our parents were very fortunate living with their families in Australia in the decades after WW2.
Hello Hels, Congratulations on your wonderful new great-grandson. He is adorable! I was lucky to have four great-grandparents well into my teenage and adult years, so I know that this is an ideal situation on both sides of the equation.
ReplyDelete--Jim
Parnassus
Deletein the early 1960s, my school had a Grandparents' Day for my year and of the 120 students, only 4 grandparents were alive post-Holocaust and turned up. I adored my grandparents and felt so sorry for all my contemporaries having never met a grandparent of their own.
You and Jo-Anne were soo fortunate, having great grandparents as well.
Your story carries both the quiet pride of generations growing and the enduring ache of those deeply missed.
ReplyDeleteroentare
Deletethat is true. The only surprise was that the two events came so closely together. I didn't go out of the house socially for 12 months after my son died, and then a few months later everyone was planning a baby shower. But life is like that, isn't it? Sometimes it is a pleasure to be alive.. and sometimes you would rather stay in bed all day.
Mazel tov to you and your family Hels! What wonderful news!
ReplyDeleteMandy
DeleteA healthy baby is the loveliest sight. Who knows when he is 18 whether he will smoke, drink, do drugs, drive too fast or has tattoos? In the meantime, it is all pleasure :)
Congratulations! New life is wonderful, and always to be welcomed and celebrated.
ReplyDeletejabblog
DeleteMany thanks sister :)
Do you have children, grandchildren and great grandchildren? I have been blogging since 2008 and this is the first time I have seen information about fellow-bloggers' families.
Dear Helen, congratulation ! To become a Great Grandmother must be wonderful! What you do/did with your grandchildren is a beautiful program. Enjoy your luck! Britta
ReplyDeleteBritta
DeleteWhen my grandchildren were teenagers, I was still employed at the tertiary institute and took the grandees to cultural activities at any place I had membership at eg art galleries, libraries, universities, synagogues etc.
Now I am retired, I suspect the activites might be more limited to beaches :)
I don't give advice, they seem to have things well sorted with the parents giving the advice and doing the babysitting. They don't live close to me so I see them very rarely and I am only meeting the newborn for the first time later this week.
ReplyDeleteRiver
DeleteI gave strong advice to the oldest grandchildren on Sunday about _never_ gulping down bottles of vodka or gin, if they lose a bet with friends. I agreed that it wasn't illegal,... just very very dangerous. They clearly indicated that I didn't understand the implications of losing a bet with friends grrr
Boa noite minha querida amiga Helen. Sinto muito, pelo que aconteceu com seu querido filho. Minha querida mãe, já em 9 ou 10 bisnetos. Uma excelente noite de segunda-feira, um excelente mês de maio e um grande abraço do seu amigo carioca.
ReplyDeleteLuiz
Deleteyour mother did very well indeed :) Were her grandchildren all healthy, clever, educated and cultured?
Congrats Hels. I know I am a bit behind, but how exciting. One day my daughter may have a child or children. I hope so because I do want to be a grandmother one day.
ReplyDeleteErika
DeleteHaving my lovely sons was hard work, so I was thrilled when they married and moved on creating their own families. Having grandchildren was a total joy, as I hope you discover.