A few weeks before my ninth birthday, I visited my grandfather who lives out of town. He took me to the supermarket, and we chose a birthday card. He then wrote me a message in it and told me to open it on my birthday. On The morning of my birthday, the first thing I did was open the card. I still cherish that necklace to this day, and even as he lives too far away for me to see him very often, I still get a call from him every Sunday night and we catch up on each other’s lives.
In India, a lot of us live in joint families with our grandparents, but if we look outside, in a lot of European and North American countries, nuclear families prevail. These countries are more developed than India but is their culture progressing in the same respect? Here, families are headed by the oldest member, male or female, who makes all the decisions for the family with their years of experience. They are greatly respected and loved for the gentleness and the love they provide is like no other. They add so much to a family! Nucleated families in all parts of the world are often distant from their parents, let alone their grandparents. Then there are others who push them away by sending them to old-age homes. Sometimes these homes are the financially better solution but most people cast them out for selfish reasons, which is unfair to the people who have helped raise you and your parents. It is heart-breaking how little some people care about the elders of their family. Like all other people, they also need social interaction and the protection that comes with being a part of a family. They are human too!
Did you know that grandparents are, unfortunately, so often forgotten that the official flower for Grandparents Day is the ‘Forget Me Not flower? Well now that you know, bring them some flowers for the upcoming Grandparents Day, celebrated on the 11th September, every year!
Forget Me Not!
Sources of Information: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/
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