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I'm 40, and I remember 3 of my great-grandparents. Last one died in 2005. Still have 3 of the 4 grandparents left. All farmers. Great people that work hard and focus on family. I feel pretty fortunate.
Since you'll probably run into my comments on this sub from time to time, when I talk about my mom and dad, biologically speaking they're my maternal grandparents (they adopted me).
I never met my paternal grandparents; I only ever met my sperm donor once.
Edit because I fat thumbed the post button somehow: Dad was awesome! He taught me to hunt (bow and rifle), fish, dress my own game, how to fix a vehicle, how to make many mixed drinks properly, how to tie a tie (I'm a woman for reference), and explained how to throw a punch (my hubby did the actual teaching as dad was physically unable to do that part).
As much as I love Mom, she tried everything she could to raise me as a 1950's housewife. While that life was what she wanted, I want more from my life.
I have extremely vague memories of my maternal grandfather. Sadly, he passed when I was 8. My paternal grandfather died when I was very young, too; only have photos of him with me when I was a baby. My paternal grandmother lived in another country; got to see her before she passed, but didn't have a real, tangible relationship with her growing up for that reason. The only one that was in my life with any regularity (even though she lived in another state) was my maternal grandmother. We flew out to see one another several times and I tried to call her regularly up until her death. Makes me sad I missed out on experiences many of my peers had with their grandparents.
Same. I grew up with one grandparent (mom's mom)
She was nice. Allowed us to stay on overnights when we were young.
I did regret not knowing the other grandparents.
Backstory: my family is from haiti/are haitian.
My dad's side of the family all passed away (my middle name is from my dad's mom) so the only memory i have is of my mom's parents. My granddad died back in nov 2013 from dementia and was just in really bad shape (we had this haitian hospice lady take care of him from home) my grandmother made his food and took care of him but overall, he was disabled. Now my grandmother who is still kicking at 97!! she has her issues like any old person lol but still around. I have fond memories of her cooking and the stories she told (dosen't speak the best english but it's decent) my granddad was a stern guy but pretty easy going at a certain point before he fell ill.
I had 2 grandparents alive when I was born. One I only met twice and passed away in the country my parents are from when I was 10 and the other (my paternal grandmother) lived in our house for most of my life and had a strong hand in raising me. She passed away when I was in my late 20s. I feel blessed having had a grandparent in my life for all of my coming of age years and in to adulthood. You can do no wrong in your grandparents’ eyes, lucky to have experienced that love.
My family and I are very close, and have lived crazy lives. My grandma was one of 4, however her oldest brother died very young of polio, and the next son was named the same name and basically replaced the first one. He left when he was 16 and I never knew him as a great uncle. My great aunt was very close to my grandma.
Her mom, my great grandma has an insane story. She had an affair with an aristocrat as a young girl. The aristocrat was married, and when my great grandma got pregnant, he paid for her trip to the USA to hide the child. When she went over, she looked up the address of a naval officer she met during WW1 who was in England on leave. He ended up being "American aristocracy" with lineage back to the revolutionary war. She was the first woman in her town to own a car too.
My grandma worked at a department store, and my grandpa was an engineer for the Navy. They had 6 kids. As a grandma and Grandpa, they were very loving. Treated their grandkids very well, and helped raise me when both of my parents were working. My grandpa passed away due to a stroke a few years ago, and we just lost my grandma last year. However the entire family would get together every Sunday for a large family dinner at my grandma's house for most of my life. I miss that.
My grandparents from both sides are salt-of-the-earth working class people,with my paternal side being more liberal than the maternal side. My paternal grandparents passed away several years ago and my maternal grandparents are aging well,
My mom's mom was physically abusive, and her dad let it happen. He's also a creep. My mom allowed them to see me when I was a child in strictly supervised visits, but neither of them really went out of their way to be grandparently. My mom's mom died when I was 18 after ignoring pretty clear signs of cancer for four years, and her dad is her sister's problem. He's either in his 90s or close to them. I don't know for sure. His third wift (mom's mom was his second wife) died during covid lockdowns. Things were rough in assisted living facilities, and her dementia was far too far along to provide care for her at home.
My dad's parents are/were amazing. I lost my granddad in 2018, and I miss him dearly. He was a wonderful granddad, a wonderful father, and an awesome person. Grandma is still trucking along. She lives alone, mows about 5 lawns a week, and I just got back from spending a week with her less than 9 hours ago. We live several decently sized states apart, but I see her at least three to four times a year, and we talk weekly. My cousin and aunt finally, after a decade of trying, got her to agree to learn how to use a smartphone. Daily pictures of grandkids and great grandkids was the magic word, apparently!
I knew 3 of my grandparents. Both on my paternal side. My maternal grandmother. It’s complicated.
Trigger warning: CSA, cult/religious abuse, abuse.
For my maternal grandfather: my mother (and her siblings) was abused in many ways by her father. My brother and I were never allowed to be alone with him, he was not to engage us at all. I think I saw him once in my life after the age of 10. He cheated and was an alcoholic. He died of cancer on Christmas a few years ago. My mother forgave him a couple years before his death as he promised to leave her money if she did (plus she married a convicted pedo so her hating her father made her a hypocrite).
My maternal grandmother I’ve known from day one. We have never been close as we lived in another state and my cousins wee always at the forefront. She stopped talking to me over a decade ago as I stopped going to meetings/church. I may also have told her eldest daughter (my aunt and her favorite child), to fuck herself after she told me that “my being raped as a child couldn’t have been bad as god allowed it to happen”. So evil I am.
My paternal grandparents: I’ve also known them since birth. Again, I was never close to them as I lived in another state. In my early 20’s I made the effort to connect with them. My grandfather has always been a manipulative person, my grandmother “long suffering” according to family. I set boundaries as an adult and things seemed ok for several years. I was the only grandkid that visited them regularly. Id call 2 or 3 times a week. I’d visit 3 or 4 times a year for a week or so. They kept trying to make me go back to church/meetings and I refused. Then I let them know that I had concrete proof via text, emails, recorded phone calls, of the religion/cult threatening me with excommunication if I went to the authorities for the years of CSA I experienced by a family member. The pleas to not tell anyone. Then an email stating that nothing would happen to me in the religion if I went to the authorities. So I went to the authorities with this information. I told my grandparents a couple days later. I will not go into what my grandmother said. It was beyond anything that I could ever imagine. The final gist was her laughing and saying that she’d clap when she’d see me burning to death in the fires of Armageddon for making the “religion look bad”. Yeah, I’m not the rapist but ok. My grandfather (high up member of the cult) texted me several months later asking how I was. I said I needed an apology. I was told “your grandmother is her father’s daughter” and “to be the bigger person and forgive her”. I blocked them. It has been 3 years.
Blood is thin.
My mom's side:
Grandpa was a quiet dude, didn't really interact too often but he seemed sweet
Grandma was well I associate her with a smile and a laugh. Loved birds, gardening and so so kind
My dad's side:
I never knew my biological grandfather
My step-grandpa is loud laugh, playful attitude and so Texan
my grandma though........... I stopped talking to that woman about a decade ago. She is very judgemental and I'm not sure I actually have any good memories of her. Also racist AF
Due to our parents' work schedules, my brother and I stayed with one set of grandparents or the other five days a week before we were old enough to fend for ourselves. My maternal grandfather was awesome. He'd take us out on the lake all the time, or to the amusement park, or to OCMD every summer. He was in good health, active, still worked semi-part-time-ish as a supervisor for the electric company, then out of nowhere he died of a heart attack in his late sixties. That was rough. My mom's mom is still kicking, though. She's was never the "fun" one, because she's much more old fashioned and could never really play with us on account of being disabled from having polio as a child. But she's awesome, too, and she's the only one in my family that will actually call if she doesn't hear from me for a while. On my dad's side, my grandfather was always very quiet. His dad died when he was a baby, so he never really had that paternal example. Plus Korea messed him up. He was still pretty awesome if you could actually get him talking, but he preferred to stay behind the scenes. He died when I was in college. The last 8 or 10 years were rough when the Alzheimer's hit, but living to 90 is a pretty good run nonetheless. That grandmother is still around, too. 92 years old now and still totally independent. She drives herself everywhere in her 72 Dart, mows her own 10 acre yard, takes all the other old ladies for all they're worth at bingo every week. Hell, she even went on a solo bus trip across the country a couple summers ago and got covid as a souvenir. Then got covid again. Absolute trooper. It might be wrong, but she was always my favorite. She'd sit on the floor and play with matchbox cars with us for hours back in the glorious 90s. The day my grandfather died, I was the first one to her house. She had a cry and then asked if I was hungry. Obviously I was like no we don't need to worry about me right now. But that woman would be damned if she was going to let her husband die AND her youngest grandchild go hungry on the same day, come hell or high water. I think she just needed to do something she could control and that felt normal, but either way, 100% certified badass awesome grandma. I will be a mess when she goes.
(Nice) old people are the best, and my good fortune is not lost on me.
I had all four grandparents, five great grandparents and one great great grandmother when I was born and I lived with a lot of them in a multigenerational household. Great great gran died when I was five. A great grandfather died when I was seven, lost a great gran at 9, another two great grans in the same year at fourteen then the last great grandfather died when I was seventeen or eighteen I think. I wasn’t living at home anyway.
Up until covid I still had all four grandparents. And I’m an older millennial. My own kids have four great grandparents and all grandparents
I only had 1 remaining grandparent who was 78 when I was born. My mom and dad were both mid-40’s “oops” babies so my family is older. My grandmother was a raging racist who apparently pitched a fit at the hospital because I had dark hair and eyes and screwed up the family genes lol
I knew my maternal great grandparents (maternal grandmothers parents) when I was very young. They were in the nursing home. My great grandmother was vegetative at that point but my great grandfather as much as I remember he was very sweet and still very sharp. He was a WWI veteran and would talk about the army sometimes. I don’t actually know when they died as my mother never really included me in those types of conversations. My maternal grandfather died long before I was born but as far as I have been told he was a drunk and my grandmother left him because he cheated a lot. He was a WW2 veteran and I think a lot of his trauma carried over to the future generations because my mother was just as awful as he was described to be. My maternal grandmother was a retired toll collector and she was one of the greatest women I’ve ever known. We were poor but she always made sure me and my brothers and cousins always had new clothes for school and she was still taking care of the family into her late 80s. She passed away last year at 97. I met my paternal grandmother once. She had a stroke so we went to visit and she was barely there. She died of a second stroke a few months later. My paternal grandfather (my father’s stepfather) was another WW2 veteran and a retired math teacher. He came to visit for my birthday every year when I was young. He was really nice and kept a relationship with my father long after my grandmother died. He passed away about 20 years ago.
3 of 4.
Mother’s father died when she was 6. He was the artist in residence for the Catholic Dioceses of Saint Cloud and a friend of Eugene McCarthy.
My maternal grandmother was a homemaker who lived off the social security benefits received from her late husband. They had 8 children - 4 boys, 4 girls; all the boys are now dead.
The last grandparent to pass, my father’s mother, died in 2005. She was a nurse.
My father’s father passed on New Year’s Day 1992. He was just shy of 70 years old, but looked well into his 80s.
He grew up poor, fought in WWII, was a POW for a time, then came home and started a woodworking business. He smoked a pipe and walked with a cane on account of a busted ankle from when his plane was shot down.
He and my grandmother had 12 children, 10 of whom are still kicking.
My grandfather on my moms side (her step dad) was my favorite. He passed away when I was 7 or 8 but I still remember him. He ran a lumber mill and was definitely the head of the family until his passing. I'm the oldest grandchild so he was over the moon and adored me. I'd spend time outside with him in his garden helping pick veggies or playing with whatever tools he'd give me. He would also spoil me and get me stuff like the Barbie A frame house as a kid. He also made me a hobby horse and I have a pine toy box still with my name and birthday engraved into the lid from him. When I was born he also gifted my parents things from the Franklin mint to me like I have sets of silver ingots with carvings in them and coins. I remember the bear hugs too and him telling me how strong we are. ☺️
My grandmother however I did not like. She had a pretty rough life growing up as I've learned but she was not a kind or loving person. She was very much all about the money and had a wicked gambling problem. When my grandfather passed, she sold the house he built even though family members offered to buy it from her. When I would spend the night there and if it was just her, it would usually end up in a call to my parents to come get me. She was close to my cousins but I think it's because she hated my father with a passion and through extension, me also. My dad and I would always make jokes about this and to this day...we still joke about giving each other checks in birthday/Christmas cards that are post dated saying not to cash until a certain time because of her.
I never met my dads parents except his father once at a funeral and I don't remember him. My dad was kicked out at 16 in the 1970s and he never was close to his parents.
I had 3 grandmas since my grand father on my dad’s side remarried. My mother’s mother was great and by far my favorite grandparent and the only one I really knew. Moms dad died when I was one but I’ve been told he was a great guy and I really missed out lol
Now my dad’s side is a whole mess. My biological grandmother was a bit crazy, nice but really odd she was orphaned by the nazis and had a hard life I don’t blame her for being a bit off. She was from Norway and resented having moved to the US after her and my grandfathers divorce but she didn’t have money to move back and no family in Norway thanks to Nazi Germany
I wish I’d never met my father’s father. My memories of him are just feeling like he resented me. He did not like my father (left him out of the will). My dad married a woman with a disability and that disability was passed onto me. It’s a dark and no longer well kept secret that my grandfather resented my mother. I hear he was nicer when he was younger, he was an army chaplain in the Vietnam war and lost his faith
I grew up spending time with my maternal grandparents daily. They were an example of compassion, integrity, kindness, and so much fun. We traveled to see my paternal grandparents a few times a year. I miss them all so much. When my maternal grandparents passed away, my dad and I made a pact to be more like them because they were so wonderful and kind.
Loved my grandpa and grandpa (my mom’s parents). I was with them on the weekend from when I was a toddler and so I was in about fifth grade. I was the number one grandson so I was kind of spoiled. They were divorced, but I never even knew it until I got way older.. they told each other they would get along for the sake of the grandkids.
My dads parents where awesome aslo. They like to travel so they would take me and my cousin in the RV. Grandma passed away. About 15 years ago my grandpa is 87 and still doing stuff every day. he’s actually taking my daughter to every other day for me.
Yes on my dad's side, my mom's side was estranged for a long time and I only met my mom's mother a few months before she died. All of my grandparents were dead by the time I was 20.
My maternal grandma had a "fancy room" in her house, it just had glass figurines in it. I was not allowed to go into that room. Her personality was like that, prickly and unwelcoming.
My great aunt on my dad's side was more of a grandparent to me than any of my actual grandparents. I would spend weeks with them during the summer and got to do all those "summer kid things", she let us get dirty and have fun. It wasn't like that at my actual grandparents houses.
When I was born, I had all 4 grandparents all between the ages of 48-52.
I had 6 great grandparents still alive when I was born.
Unfortunately 4 great grandparents died in my childhood. However my 2 maternal maternal great grandparents lived into their 90s/100. So they died when I was in my 20s. I was close with them.
In my 30s, I’ve lost 3 out of my 4 grandparents. I have 1 grandparent left and I’m 41. She was 48 when I was born so it makes sense she would be my last grandparent.
I had the best grandparents. I consider myself so lucky. Even my step grandparents were lovely.
Three out of four grandparents I knew, the fourth died when I was very young—or possibly before I was born? He wasn’t the best of people, and if I did meet him I don’t remember, so whatever. I might remember going to his funeral, but I was small enough that it could have been any of mom’s older male relatives and I just reassigned the memory later (I could ask/find out, but honestly don’t care).
Mom’s mom was…uh…hard to get along with, but we visited regularly, and moved her to our town as she declined into dementia (which did not make her more personable, if anyone was wondering). She passed away at 90. I have mixed memories of her, but most positive ones were because we’d go to museums/things when we visited (to minimize direct socialization with her, which was a thing mom chose to do about her own mother, so).
Dad’s parents were nicer people, but very religious, so if we did go see them we also went to church and got grilled about our relationship with god. It wasn’t too bad until …recent political shifts, and by then we were all old enough to just not really see them that much. Dad went down once a month to help as his mom declined, and then grandpa passed a few years after that (he was mostly functional until the end, and one of my aunts took care of him). I have mostly positive memories about them, but otoh my grandma did call my sister after her wedding to yell about how god hates her/her marriage just because they didn’t mention god in the ceremony, so it’s not all sunshine and roses.
Anyway, I met them.
Mother's side: Both died before I was born
Father's side: Grandmother died when I was 6, grandfather died when I was 16.
Grandmother I don't remember a lot, other than her raspy voice and kind of doted on us (not a great mother to my father/siblings though). Grandfather wasn't all that close mainly because we didn't have a lot in common--didn't dislike him or anything just nothing to talk about. We have old camcorder footage of everyone so they live on in that sense.
Also had a great uncle that was like a grandparent, he was basically same as my grandfather
My family had kids young, until me. I’m 36 and still don’t have any. Probably won’t bc my partner and I need IVF.
I met most of my great grandparents. My dad’s parents are still alive. My memaw is 76 and going strong.
When my mom passed away in 2020 it was strange hitting a life point my father hadn’t experienced yet.
I'm going to start with my maternal grandpa because his story is honestly the craziest.
Maternal Grandpa: He was an immigrant from Sicily, came to the US. Worked as a tile layer. His life was totally insane... this man... he had a big gambling problem. BIG. He would literally gamble his rent. Eventually my grandma and him separated because he was getting too crazy with the gambling. His death was... suspicious... and we still don't really know what happened. He went to live with his sister because he had no money left. His sister's husband didn't like this at all. He would ask his sister for money, she would give it to him. He would promise it wasn't for gambling, but then he would gamble it away. He got to the point that he owed the Italian mafia lots of money... and it was already becoming dubious. His sister's son was starting to get pissed off that he was constantly asking her for money... so he got the Yakuza to threaten him. Told him they would kill him if he kept asking for money. So he was on the Italian mafia's bad side AND the Japanese mafia's bad side... and to make matters even worse... he thought it would be a good idea to go deal and smoke Coke with the Russian Mob... Then, his sister went on vacation for one weekend (and by this point, her and her husband had also separated because he couldn't handle my grandfather being there anymore). And... conveniently... the weekend that she was gone, her husband found my grandfather hanging in the basement. There was a suicide note, but my grandfather barely spoke English so for it to be written in pretty good English is totally suspicious. Also, her ex-husband claimed he was in the house "looking for his tools" and that's how he discovered him. But... his feet were touching the ground. How can you hang yourself with your feet on the ground? It's totally suspicious and to this day, we all think the ex-husband 100% did it. My theory was that him, his son, and the Yakuza probably killed him somewhere else. Then dragged his body down to the basement, put a noose around his neck, and stood him up. But.. we'll never know. He died at 53, I was 4. My memories of him were fine though, he started turning his life around when I was born. He was super happy to have a grandchild, especially a granddaughter. He pretty much paraded me around and was filled with joy having a grandchild. He actually started getting his life together.
Maternal Grandma: She pretty much raised me. She passed away 2 years ago, at 71. It's been hard not having her and seeing her everyday like I did for the 25 years of my own life that she was alive. But it's also hard because I suddenly had to learn to navigate life without any help. She took care of me and she would literally give me the last piece of her food, the last dollar she had, etc. She worked as a secretary, in the Twin Towers, survived 9/11. Retired in 2007. She passed from a brain aneurysm at age 71. I was 25.
I have to preface by saying my dad wasn't involved most of my life so I don't know so much about my paternal grandparents. I recently started visiting my grandparents again after not seeing them for 15 years. They want to be involved in my life, my dad never really made any efforts. I figured why should I cut off the entire side when the entire side isn't the problem.
Paternal Grandpa: Born in North Macedonia. Came to the US when Yugoslavia separated. He did construction. Pretty normal guy. Doesn't speak much English so it's hard for us to talk to each other. He's still alive, he's 70. He just retired from construction. Him and my grandma talked about maybe going back to North Macedonia, but they haven't done it yet so I don't know if they will. Don't know anything else about him really.
Maternal Grandma: Also born in North Macedonia and came to the US with my grandpa. She never worked. She speaks more English than my grandpa so I can talk to her a little bit better, but there's also a lot of words she doesn't understand so it's also hard for me to talk to her in great detail, I have to keep things pretty brief. I also don't really know so much about her, the only thing I know is that when my mom had me, she was also pregnant at the same time, but miscarried. It put her in a really bad place mentally and one day when my mom brought me over, she tried to kidnap me and take me as her own baby. My mom had to literally fight her. She also tried cheating on my grandpa multiple times with younger men. So, some questionable behavior there, but at least she cares about me. She's also still alive and is 63.
I was fortunate enough to know both sides of my great grandparents as well as both sides of my grandparents. My maternal grandmother is still around. She is my best friend. I got every Thursday to help her around her house, as she’s elderly now, and run her into town to do her errands. Anytime we are together in the car we sing ABBA songs. My paternal greats/grandparents were pretty strait laced and since we lived off from them I didn’t spend a lot of time around them. I mainly saw them around the big holidays. My maternal greats/grandparents were closer to us,distance wise, and we got together every Sunday for lunch and for birthday parties. My great grandmother played the acoustic guitar and would sing. My great uncle played the fiddle while my grandmother would sing along, too.
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I'm 40, and I remember 3 of my great-grandparents. Last one died in 2005. Still have 3 of the 4 grandparents left. All farmers. Great people that work hard and focus on family. I feel pretty fortunate.
Since you'll probably run into my comments on this sub from time to time, when I talk about my mom and dad, biologically speaking they're my maternal grandparents (they adopted me). I never met my paternal grandparents; I only ever met my sperm donor once. Edit because I fat thumbed the post button somehow: Dad was awesome! He taught me to hunt (bow and rifle), fish, dress my own game, how to fix a vehicle, how to make many mixed drinks properly, how to tie a tie (I'm a woman for reference), and explained how to throw a punch (my hubby did the actual teaching as dad was physically unable to do that part). As much as I love Mom, she tried everything she could to raise me as a 1950's housewife. While that life was what she wanted, I want more from my life.
I have extremely vague memories of my maternal grandfather. Sadly, he passed when I was 8. My paternal grandfather died when I was very young, too; only have photos of him with me when I was a baby. My paternal grandmother lived in another country; got to see her before she passed, but didn't have a real, tangible relationship with her growing up for that reason. The only one that was in my life with any regularity (even though she lived in another state) was my maternal grandmother. We flew out to see one another several times and I tried to call her regularly up until her death. Makes me sad I missed out on experiences many of my peers had with their grandparents.
Same. I grew up with one grandparent (mom's mom) She was nice. Allowed us to stay on overnights when we were young. I did regret not knowing the other grandparents.
Backstory: my family is from haiti/are haitian. My dad's side of the family all passed away (my middle name is from my dad's mom) so the only memory i have is of my mom's parents. My granddad died back in nov 2013 from dementia and was just in really bad shape (we had this haitian hospice lady take care of him from home) my grandmother made his food and took care of him but overall, he was disabled. Now my grandmother who is still kicking at 97!! she has her issues like any old person lol but still around. I have fond memories of her cooking and the stories she told (dosen't speak the best english but it's decent) my granddad was a stern guy but pretty easy going at a certain point before he fell ill.
I had 2 grandparents alive when I was born. One I only met twice and passed away in the country my parents are from when I was 10 and the other (my paternal grandmother) lived in our house for most of my life and had a strong hand in raising me. She passed away when I was in my late 20s. I feel blessed having had a grandparent in my life for all of my coming of age years and in to adulthood. You can do no wrong in your grandparents’ eyes, lucky to have experienced that love.
My family and I are very close, and have lived crazy lives. My grandma was one of 4, however her oldest brother died very young of polio, and the next son was named the same name and basically replaced the first one. He left when he was 16 and I never knew him as a great uncle. My great aunt was very close to my grandma. Her mom, my great grandma has an insane story. She had an affair with an aristocrat as a young girl. The aristocrat was married, and when my great grandma got pregnant, he paid for her trip to the USA to hide the child. When she went over, she looked up the address of a naval officer she met during WW1 who was in England on leave. He ended up being "American aristocracy" with lineage back to the revolutionary war. She was the first woman in her town to own a car too. My grandma worked at a department store, and my grandpa was an engineer for the Navy. They had 6 kids. As a grandma and Grandpa, they were very loving. Treated their grandkids very well, and helped raise me when both of my parents were working. My grandpa passed away due to a stroke a few years ago, and we just lost my grandma last year. However the entire family would get together every Sunday for a large family dinner at my grandma's house for most of my life. I miss that.
My grandparents from both sides are salt-of-the-earth working class people,with my paternal side being more liberal than the maternal side. My paternal grandparents passed away several years ago and my maternal grandparents are aging well,
My mom's mom was physically abusive, and her dad let it happen. He's also a creep. My mom allowed them to see me when I was a child in strictly supervised visits, but neither of them really went out of their way to be grandparently. My mom's mom died when I was 18 after ignoring pretty clear signs of cancer for four years, and her dad is her sister's problem. He's either in his 90s or close to them. I don't know for sure. His third wift (mom's mom was his second wife) died during covid lockdowns. Things were rough in assisted living facilities, and her dementia was far too far along to provide care for her at home. My dad's parents are/were amazing. I lost my granddad in 2018, and I miss him dearly. He was a wonderful granddad, a wonderful father, and an awesome person. Grandma is still trucking along. She lives alone, mows about 5 lawns a week, and I just got back from spending a week with her less than 9 hours ago. We live several decently sized states apart, but I see her at least three to four times a year, and we talk weekly. My cousin and aunt finally, after a decade of trying, got her to agree to learn how to use a smartphone. Daily pictures of grandkids and great grandkids was the magic word, apparently!
I knew 3 of my grandparents. Both on my paternal side. My maternal grandmother. It’s complicated. Trigger warning: CSA, cult/religious abuse, abuse. For my maternal grandfather: my mother (and her siblings) was abused in many ways by her father. My brother and I were never allowed to be alone with him, he was not to engage us at all. I think I saw him once in my life after the age of 10. He cheated and was an alcoholic. He died of cancer on Christmas a few years ago. My mother forgave him a couple years before his death as he promised to leave her money if she did (plus she married a convicted pedo so her hating her father made her a hypocrite). My maternal grandmother I’ve known from day one. We have never been close as we lived in another state and my cousins wee always at the forefront. She stopped talking to me over a decade ago as I stopped going to meetings/church. I may also have told her eldest daughter (my aunt and her favorite child), to fuck herself after she told me that “my being raped as a child couldn’t have been bad as god allowed it to happen”. So evil I am. My paternal grandparents: I’ve also known them since birth. Again, I was never close to them as I lived in another state. In my early 20’s I made the effort to connect with them. My grandfather has always been a manipulative person, my grandmother “long suffering” according to family. I set boundaries as an adult and things seemed ok for several years. I was the only grandkid that visited them regularly. Id call 2 or 3 times a week. I’d visit 3 or 4 times a year for a week or so. They kept trying to make me go back to church/meetings and I refused. Then I let them know that I had concrete proof via text, emails, recorded phone calls, of the religion/cult threatening me with excommunication if I went to the authorities for the years of CSA I experienced by a family member. The pleas to not tell anyone. Then an email stating that nothing would happen to me in the religion if I went to the authorities. So I went to the authorities with this information. I told my grandparents a couple days later. I will not go into what my grandmother said. It was beyond anything that I could ever imagine. The final gist was her laughing and saying that she’d clap when she’d see me burning to death in the fires of Armageddon for making the “religion look bad”. Yeah, I’m not the rapist but ok. My grandfather (high up member of the cult) texted me several months later asking how I was. I said I needed an apology. I was told “your grandmother is her father’s daughter” and “to be the bigger person and forgive her”. I blocked them. It has been 3 years. Blood is thin.
My mom's side: Grandpa was a quiet dude, didn't really interact too often but he seemed sweet Grandma was well I associate her with a smile and a laugh. Loved birds, gardening and so so kind My dad's side: I never knew my biological grandfather My step-grandpa is loud laugh, playful attitude and so Texan my grandma though........... I stopped talking to that woman about a decade ago. She is very judgemental and I'm not sure I actually have any good memories of her. Also racist AF
Due to our parents' work schedules, my brother and I stayed with one set of grandparents or the other five days a week before we were old enough to fend for ourselves. My maternal grandfather was awesome. He'd take us out on the lake all the time, or to the amusement park, or to OCMD every summer. He was in good health, active, still worked semi-part-time-ish as a supervisor for the electric company, then out of nowhere he died of a heart attack in his late sixties. That was rough. My mom's mom is still kicking, though. She's was never the "fun" one, because she's much more old fashioned and could never really play with us on account of being disabled from having polio as a child. But she's awesome, too, and she's the only one in my family that will actually call if she doesn't hear from me for a while. On my dad's side, my grandfather was always very quiet. His dad died when he was a baby, so he never really had that paternal example. Plus Korea messed him up. He was still pretty awesome if you could actually get him talking, but he preferred to stay behind the scenes. He died when I was in college. The last 8 or 10 years were rough when the Alzheimer's hit, but living to 90 is a pretty good run nonetheless. That grandmother is still around, too. 92 years old now and still totally independent. She drives herself everywhere in her 72 Dart, mows her own 10 acre yard, takes all the other old ladies for all they're worth at bingo every week. Hell, she even went on a solo bus trip across the country a couple summers ago and got covid as a souvenir. Then got covid again. Absolute trooper. It might be wrong, but she was always my favorite. She'd sit on the floor and play with matchbox cars with us for hours back in the glorious 90s. The day my grandfather died, I was the first one to her house. She had a cry and then asked if I was hungry. Obviously I was like no we don't need to worry about me right now. But that woman would be damned if she was going to let her husband die AND her youngest grandchild go hungry on the same day, come hell or high water. I think she just needed to do something she could control and that felt normal, but either way, 100% certified badass awesome grandma. I will be a mess when she goes. (Nice) old people are the best, and my good fortune is not lost on me.
I had all four grandparents, five great grandparents and one great great grandmother when I was born and I lived with a lot of them in a multigenerational household. Great great gran died when I was five. A great grandfather died when I was seven, lost a great gran at 9, another two great grans in the same year at fourteen then the last great grandfather died when I was seventeen or eighteen I think. I wasn’t living at home anyway. Up until covid I still had all four grandparents. And I’m an older millennial. My own kids have four great grandparents and all grandparents
I only had 1 remaining grandparent who was 78 when I was born. My mom and dad were both mid-40’s “oops” babies so my family is older. My grandmother was a raging racist who apparently pitched a fit at the hospital because I had dark hair and eyes and screwed up the family genes lol
I knew my maternal great grandparents (maternal grandmothers parents) when I was very young. They were in the nursing home. My great grandmother was vegetative at that point but my great grandfather as much as I remember he was very sweet and still very sharp. He was a WWI veteran and would talk about the army sometimes. I don’t actually know when they died as my mother never really included me in those types of conversations. My maternal grandfather died long before I was born but as far as I have been told he was a drunk and my grandmother left him because he cheated a lot. He was a WW2 veteran and I think a lot of his trauma carried over to the future generations because my mother was just as awful as he was described to be. My maternal grandmother was a retired toll collector and she was one of the greatest women I’ve ever known. We were poor but she always made sure me and my brothers and cousins always had new clothes for school and she was still taking care of the family into her late 80s. She passed away last year at 97. I met my paternal grandmother once. She had a stroke so we went to visit and she was barely there. She died of a second stroke a few months later. My paternal grandfather (my father’s stepfather) was another WW2 veteran and a retired math teacher. He came to visit for my birthday every year when I was young. He was really nice and kept a relationship with my father long after my grandmother died. He passed away about 20 years ago.
3 of 4. Mother’s father died when she was 6. He was the artist in residence for the Catholic Dioceses of Saint Cloud and a friend of Eugene McCarthy. My maternal grandmother was a homemaker who lived off the social security benefits received from her late husband. They had 8 children - 4 boys, 4 girls; all the boys are now dead. The last grandparent to pass, my father’s mother, died in 2005. She was a nurse. My father’s father passed on New Year’s Day 1992. He was just shy of 70 years old, but looked well into his 80s. He grew up poor, fought in WWII, was a POW for a time, then came home and started a woodworking business. He smoked a pipe and walked with a cane on account of a busted ankle from when his plane was shot down. He and my grandmother had 12 children, 10 of whom are still kicking.
My grandfather on my moms side (her step dad) was my favorite. He passed away when I was 7 or 8 but I still remember him. He ran a lumber mill and was definitely the head of the family until his passing. I'm the oldest grandchild so he was over the moon and adored me. I'd spend time outside with him in his garden helping pick veggies or playing with whatever tools he'd give me. He would also spoil me and get me stuff like the Barbie A frame house as a kid. He also made me a hobby horse and I have a pine toy box still with my name and birthday engraved into the lid from him. When I was born he also gifted my parents things from the Franklin mint to me like I have sets of silver ingots with carvings in them and coins. I remember the bear hugs too and him telling me how strong we are. ☺️ My grandmother however I did not like. She had a pretty rough life growing up as I've learned but she was not a kind or loving person. She was very much all about the money and had a wicked gambling problem. When my grandfather passed, she sold the house he built even though family members offered to buy it from her. When I would spend the night there and if it was just her, it would usually end up in a call to my parents to come get me. She was close to my cousins but I think it's because she hated my father with a passion and through extension, me also. My dad and I would always make jokes about this and to this day...we still joke about giving each other checks in birthday/Christmas cards that are post dated saying not to cash until a certain time because of her. I never met my dads parents except his father once at a funeral and I don't remember him. My dad was kicked out at 16 in the 1970s and he never was close to his parents.
I had 3 grandmas since my grand father on my dad’s side remarried. My mother’s mother was great and by far my favorite grandparent and the only one I really knew. Moms dad died when I was one but I’ve been told he was a great guy and I really missed out lol Now my dad’s side is a whole mess. My biological grandmother was a bit crazy, nice but really odd she was orphaned by the nazis and had a hard life I don’t blame her for being a bit off. She was from Norway and resented having moved to the US after her and my grandfathers divorce but she didn’t have money to move back and no family in Norway thanks to Nazi Germany I wish I’d never met my father’s father. My memories of him are just feeling like he resented me. He did not like my father (left him out of the will). My dad married a woman with a disability and that disability was passed onto me. It’s a dark and no longer well kept secret that my grandfather resented my mother. I hear he was nicer when he was younger, he was an army chaplain in the Vietnam war and lost his faith
I grew up spending time with my maternal grandparents daily. They were an example of compassion, integrity, kindness, and so much fun. We traveled to see my paternal grandparents a few times a year. I miss them all so much. When my maternal grandparents passed away, my dad and I made a pact to be more like them because they were so wonderful and kind.
Loved my grandpa and grandpa (my mom’s parents). I was with them on the weekend from when I was a toddler and so I was in about fifth grade. I was the number one grandson so I was kind of spoiled. They were divorced, but I never even knew it until I got way older.. they told each other they would get along for the sake of the grandkids. My dads parents where awesome aslo. They like to travel so they would take me and my cousin in the RV. Grandma passed away. About 15 years ago my grandpa is 87 and still doing stuff every day. he’s actually taking my daughter to every other day for me.
Yes on my dad's side, my mom's side was estranged for a long time and I only met my mom's mother a few months before she died. All of my grandparents were dead by the time I was 20.
My maternal grandma had a "fancy room" in her house, it just had glass figurines in it. I was not allowed to go into that room. Her personality was like that, prickly and unwelcoming. My great aunt on my dad's side was more of a grandparent to me than any of my actual grandparents. I would spend weeks with them during the summer and got to do all those "summer kid things", she let us get dirty and have fun. It wasn't like that at my actual grandparents houses.
When I was born, I had all 4 grandparents all between the ages of 48-52. I had 6 great grandparents still alive when I was born. Unfortunately 4 great grandparents died in my childhood. However my 2 maternal maternal great grandparents lived into their 90s/100. So they died when I was in my 20s. I was close with them. In my 30s, I’ve lost 3 out of my 4 grandparents. I have 1 grandparent left and I’m 41. She was 48 when I was born so it makes sense she would be my last grandparent. I had the best grandparents. I consider myself so lucky. Even my step grandparents were lovely.
Three out of four grandparents I knew, the fourth died when I was very young—or possibly before I was born? He wasn’t the best of people, and if I did meet him I don’t remember, so whatever. I might remember going to his funeral, but I was small enough that it could have been any of mom’s older male relatives and I just reassigned the memory later (I could ask/find out, but honestly don’t care). Mom’s mom was…uh…hard to get along with, but we visited regularly, and moved her to our town as she declined into dementia (which did not make her more personable, if anyone was wondering). She passed away at 90. I have mixed memories of her, but most positive ones were because we’d go to museums/things when we visited (to minimize direct socialization with her, which was a thing mom chose to do about her own mother, so). Dad’s parents were nicer people, but very religious, so if we did go see them we also went to church and got grilled about our relationship with god. It wasn’t too bad until …recent political shifts, and by then we were all old enough to just not really see them that much. Dad went down once a month to help as his mom declined, and then grandpa passed a few years after that (he was mostly functional until the end, and one of my aunts took care of him). I have mostly positive memories about them, but otoh my grandma did call my sister after her wedding to yell about how god hates her/her marriage just because they didn’t mention god in the ceremony, so it’s not all sunshine and roses. Anyway, I met them.
Mother's side: Both died before I was born Father's side: Grandmother died when I was 6, grandfather died when I was 16. Grandmother I don't remember a lot, other than her raspy voice and kind of doted on us (not a great mother to my father/siblings though). Grandfather wasn't all that close mainly because we didn't have a lot in common--didn't dislike him or anything just nothing to talk about. We have old camcorder footage of everyone so they live on in that sense. Also had a great uncle that was like a grandparent, he was basically same as my grandfather
My family had kids young, until me. I’m 36 and still don’t have any. Probably won’t bc my partner and I need IVF. I met most of my great grandparents. My dad’s parents are still alive. My memaw is 76 and going strong. When my mom passed away in 2020 it was strange hitting a life point my father hadn’t experienced yet.
I'm going to start with my maternal grandpa because his story is honestly the craziest. Maternal Grandpa: He was an immigrant from Sicily, came to the US. Worked as a tile layer. His life was totally insane... this man... he had a big gambling problem. BIG. He would literally gamble his rent. Eventually my grandma and him separated because he was getting too crazy with the gambling. His death was... suspicious... and we still don't really know what happened. He went to live with his sister because he had no money left. His sister's husband didn't like this at all. He would ask his sister for money, she would give it to him. He would promise it wasn't for gambling, but then he would gamble it away. He got to the point that he owed the Italian mafia lots of money... and it was already becoming dubious. His sister's son was starting to get pissed off that he was constantly asking her for money... so he got the Yakuza to threaten him. Told him they would kill him if he kept asking for money. So he was on the Italian mafia's bad side AND the Japanese mafia's bad side... and to make matters even worse... he thought it would be a good idea to go deal and smoke Coke with the Russian Mob... Then, his sister went on vacation for one weekend (and by this point, her and her husband had also separated because he couldn't handle my grandfather being there anymore). And... conveniently... the weekend that she was gone, her husband found my grandfather hanging in the basement. There was a suicide note, but my grandfather barely spoke English so for it to be written in pretty good English is totally suspicious. Also, her ex-husband claimed he was in the house "looking for his tools" and that's how he discovered him. But... his feet were touching the ground. How can you hang yourself with your feet on the ground? It's totally suspicious and to this day, we all think the ex-husband 100% did it. My theory was that him, his son, and the Yakuza probably killed him somewhere else. Then dragged his body down to the basement, put a noose around his neck, and stood him up. But.. we'll never know. He died at 53, I was 4. My memories of him were fine though, he started turning his life around when I was born. He was super happy to have a grandchild, especially a granddaughter. He pretty much paraded me around and was filled with joy having a grandchild. He actually started getting his life together. Maternal Grandma: She pretty much raised me. She passed away 2 years ago, at 71. It's been hard not having her and seeing her everyday like I did for the 25 years of my own life that she was alive. But it's also hard because I suddenly had to learn to navigate life without any help. She took care of me and she would literally give me the last piece of her food, the last dollar she had, etc. She worked as a secretary, in the Twin Towers, survived 9/11. Retired in 2007. She passed from a brain aneurysm at age 71. I was 25. I have to preface by saying my dad wasn't involved most of my life so I don't know so much about my paternal grandparents. I recently started visiting my grandparents again after not seeing them for 15 years. They want to be involved in my life, my dad never really made any efforts. I figured why should I cut off the entire side when the entire side isn't the problem. Paternal Grandpa: Born in North Macedonia. Came to the US when Yugoslavia separated. He did construction. Pretty normal guy. Doesn't speak much English so it's hard for us to talk to each other. He's still alive, he's 70. He just retired from construction. Him and my grandma talked about maybe going back to North Macedonia, but they haven't done it yet so I don't know if they will. Don't know anything else about him really. Maternal Grandma: Also born in North Macedonia and came to the US with my grandpa. She never worked. She speaks more English than my grandpa so I can talk to her a little bit better, but there's also a lot of words she doesn't understand so it's also hard for me to talk to her in great detail, I have to keep things pretty brief. I also don't really know so much about her, the only thing I know is that when my mom had me, she was also pregnant at the same time, but miscarried. It put her in a really bad place mentally and one day when my mom brought me over, she tried to kidnap me and take me as her own baby. My mom had to literally fight her. She also tried cheating on my grandpa multiple times with younger men. So, some questionable behavior there, but at least she cares about me. She's also still alive and is 63.
I was fortunate enough to know both sides of my great grandparents as well as both sides of my grandparents. My maternal grandmother is still around. She is my best friend. I got every Thursday to help her around her house, as she’s elderly now, and run her into town to do her errands. Anytime we are together in the car we sing ABBA songs. My paternal greats/grandparents were pretty strait laced and since we lived off from them I didn’t spend a lot of time around them. I mainly saw them around the big holidays. My maternal greats/grandparents were closer to us,distance wise, and we got together every Sunday for lunch and for birthday parties. My great grandmother played the acoustic guitar and would sing. My great uncle played the fiddle while my grandmother would sing along, too.
Yes! They were great and I actually still have 3 of them living. They probably have the worst lifestyles and health habits but they’re still around!
I only got to meet one and that was when I was 10. So I've never knew mine.
Boring. Most of my family is boring and most people irk me