My Grandfather’s Legacy: An Eternal Bond

The legacy my grandfather left behind cannot be measured in material things, old pocket watches or black and white photos.

The true gift he left me was the time we shared together. Slow walks through fallen leaves on the way home from school, the taste of the chocolate he had in his pocket or the hours in the summer we spent by the sea… about which he had a thousand stories. An infinite number of epic tales that fluctuated between truth and fiction.

Grandparents offer us the intense bonds that bind generations together. They are responsible for passing on values ​​and educating us through emotions and experience. They are playmates, confidants and advisors. The role of a grandparent has many facets.

Although the role of our grandparents is also to educate, their mission is not quite the same as that of our parents. A grandfather or grandmother has already lived through her stage of parenthood. Now it’s their turn to take on a different role and even to relive their childhood.

They are the trees of life under which we can protect future generations.

We will never know if our grandparents chose to be. Grandchildren enter the world waiting to be loved, cared for and pushed towards the world with trust and confidence. Every child needs to establish strong bonds with those around them. If parents are important, so are grandparents.

We carry some of their blood and in some ways we are an extension of their legacy into our generation. Regardless of this, there are many other aspects that nurture this relationship and that go beyond a standard genetic code.

Grandparents can have time to stay

Have you noticed this ability in most grandparents? When the school day was over and your grandfather picked you up, you knew that the afternoon would be of a slower and more relaxed nature.

However, we will never know whether our grandparents asked to relive their childhood through us. Somehow, however, they were almost meant to do just that.

They shared our games, our puzzles. Nowadays, they are even quite good at technology. They share laughter and secrets with their grandchildren; they create moments of intense emotion, which are different from those you share with your parents.

Grandparents almost never scold you. They are a bit more liberal and also know how to listen. They have time to spare, and even better: they get the time to stay for their grandchildren.

Roles of grandparents

According to many studies in gerontology and family psychology , the role portrayed by our grandfather and grandfather is very different from our grandmother and grandmother.

A grandmother is full of commitment, care and attention. They are the ones who worry about nutrition and well-being. In a way, they are more grounded in reality to be useful. A grandfather and grandfather, on the other hand, provide wisdom from the past and a personal legacy that is passed on to their grandchildren in the form of thousands of stories. Stories that children listen to with wide eyes and beating hearts.

Children love to hear stories, know where they come from and see the world through the wise eyes of their grandparents. It is a unique wisdom that is passed on from generation to generation and will never be forgotten.

They are our allies in times of crisis

Grandparents are the tree of life, where the whole family can seek protection during times of harmony, but also during stormy weather. Teenagers, for example, tend to seek peace in the bonds with their grandparents, who can also act as mediators with their parents.

Grandparents are often criticized for giving too much, for not being able to say something negative and for being biased towards their grandchildren rather than towards their own children. They are at a point in life where they push conflicts aside and prioritize the emotional value and closeness with their own over everything else.

My grandfather was not just a storyteller. He was a man who could not stand the silence of an empty house or the noise of a room filled with quarrels and quarrels. My grandfather was an ocean of tranquility that provided a peaceful breeze during family crises. No one ever knew how he did it, but thanks to him I had a safe and happy childhood.

A childhood full, very full, of personal heritage that is more valuable than the treasures of the pirate stories he told me as a child.