National Holiday: Thank a generation on Grandparents Day

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 11: Create a homemade gift and spend some time enjoying a “grand” relationship today: It’s National Grandparents Day! Congress passed the legislation for Grandparents Day more than 30 years ago, in 1978, although this holiday still hasn’t gained the popularity of Mother’s Day and Father’s Day. (Wikipedia has details.)

Spread word on today’s holiday! Aid in the mission to “honor grandparents and help children understand the guidance and strength older people can offer.” (Click here for Grandparents Day crafts, sleepover activities, celebrity quotes, greeting card templates and more.)

Distressed by the idea of lonely seniors in nursing homes, Marian McQuade of West Virginia spent several years explaining to youth the vital contributions the elderly had made in history. When a 1973 resolution for Grandparents Day failed, McQuade contacted governors, senators and congressmen in every state, eventually winning enough support. (GrandparentsDay.com has more.) “A Song for Grandma and Grandpa” became the official Grandparents’ Day song in 2004.

The holiday is slowly spreading to countries around the world, although uniquely in Poland, Grandmother’s Day and Grandfather’s Day have been around since 1965. In a recent article by two ministers, it’s pointed out that time spent with grandparents is often remembered for a lifetime. (Read it here.)

Of course, time spent together through the year is the most valuable gift of all.

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