Robbie, Ryan & Grandpa’s car.
Last week my children were off school for four days straight and got a bonus snow day to make it five grand days off in a row. My husband and I were starting to panic as the boys were showing signs of boredom. Anyone who has boys will tell you that the longer boys are bored, the more dangerous their ideas become…. If it were not for our parents, things may have gone terribly wrong fast! With the help of my father-in-law we were able to separate the boys. Which got me to thinking about how important each generation is to the next not only family but community too.
After spending time with our life-saver (Grandpa), my oldest son came home and told us all about his day. We sat and listened as he excitedly gave us a blow-by-blow account. My father-in-law is including my son in his favorite hobby, rebuilding old cars. Ryan talked about what they did to the car that they are working on and what comes next and how much patience he had to have to polish the rims just right for his grandfather’s approval. He talked about going to lunch and the hardware store and the body shop. And at the end of this whole list; Ryan said “I can’t believe Grandpa knows everyone in Solon! Solon is the best city to live in!” My husband and I looked at each other knowingly. I could tell he was thinking the same thing that I was. We have not done the best job staying familiar with the people in our community. Sure, the kids see us being friendly and chatting with people who serve us at restaurants or ring our purchase at the grocery store. But do they see us truly getting to know those people and their families? And with a clarity that I’d never had before, I understood that this was exactly what we wanted to give to our children and maybe we need to try a little bit harder. Being a real part of our children’s lives is not always easy and sometimes we forget that time spent together with family is just as important as joining that baseball team. We are grateful to have our parents to help us pass along what generations before us have given to us.
Being active in the communities where we live and work may seem small but I think it is critical for all generations to live healthy and peacefully together. At Generations Healthcare Management, we strive to stay active in meaningful ways and we look forward to growing together.