You raised your children to be smarter, braver, and more independent than you were at their age. You watched as they got into trouble, ignored your beliefs, defied your family traditions, and in general tuned you out, but you were there for them.
They grew up in front of your eyes, they left home, married strangers, and moved away, often leaving hard feelings and loneliness in their wake, but you were there for them.
Today, parents and grandparents are “needed” again. Wow! You may have gotten used to being an independent “swinging granny, but doesn’t the thought that someone actually needs you give you a warm fuzzy feeling? I’m not talking about the good works that you do, but about being needed by your family again.
Now that mandatory isolation is the rule rather than the exception, people are starting to notice that independence and personal space aren’t as important as they once thought. Unresolved family issues, that may have ruined perfectly good relationships in the past, may not seem so important today.
The time has come to mend fences. It is perfectly acceptable for you to ask for. or to offer your help. You all need each other in times like these. Your children and your grandchildren need you; cries for help are being heard around the globe.
Before COVID-19 grandparents and grown children often clashed. They responded by lashing out and acting like angry children. Now families can’t afford to “not speak” for weeks or years on end because of some perceived hurt. It is time for communication to be restored; parents and children alike must start acting like grownups for the common good.
Grandparents are returning to the home front in droves. The disruptions and the risks of Covid-19 have changed everything. Now, seniors have to decide whether they want to isolate alone, of if they should return home to become caregivers, teachers, cooks, and housekeepers for their beleaguered families
Seniors ask little but give much; hopefully someday, when order has been restored, the children of the pandemic will remember the days when their parents and grandparents did indeed step up.
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