Trilogy at Redmond Ridge member Jacque Hancock and her dear friend, Patty Dutt, always look forward to catching up over a cup of coffee and filling each other in on the latest news in their lives.? With five children and ten grandchildren between the two of them, they often find that their conversations naturally revolve around their families.
After spending many an afternoon sharing laughter and tears over memories of their ?season of grandparenting,? Jacque and Patty decided to gather their thoughts together and get them down on paper.? They planned to type up stories and print them out to hand to their children, so that the memories would not be forgotten.? As they pursued the project, several of their friends said that they would also like copies, to use as inspiration for activities with their own grandchildren.? So, with the support and encouragement of friends and family, Jacque and Patty decided to write a resource book of ideas and inspiration for grandparents and other people who love being with children.? After many months of gathering and organizing their favorite stories, memories, and bits of advice, Every Child a GRAND Child was born.
What is especially interesting about this book is that it is not only a resource book for grandparents ? but for all people who have ? or would like to have ? a connection with children.?? Through this book, the co-authors hope to communicate that even if a child is not a biological grandchild, every child is a GRAND child who is deserving of love and support from a caring adult.? Jacque and Patty actually met over 30 years ago when they were each helping to sponsor Chinese families coming to the United States from Vietnam.? Jacque shares her experience with sponsoring a family below.
?In addition to our biological children, we have five Asian heart children. We helped settle their family 32 years ago. At that time, the children were 11, 8, 6 and 4, with one not yet born. They came from Viet Nam through a refugee camp in Pulau Bidong, Malaysia. They lived with us for six weeks and then settled in their own home nearby. They spent almost every weekend and vacation with us for the next five years. We love them very much. After five years, they moved to Los Angeles and settled there.? Four of the five children are now married, and we have six GRAND children on that side of our extended family. We get together as often as possible for vacations, and we try to have a reunion every other year. We spent a week in Boulder, Colorado, cruised to Mexico, stayed in Sun River, Oregon, and vacationed in the San Juan Islands together.? This summer, my husband John and I will spend a week with all of our children, heart children, grandchildren, and GRAND children on the Oregon coast to celebrate our 50th wedding anniversary.?
The GRAND children in both Jacque and Patty?s lives served as yet another inspiring reason for them to take the extra effort to write and publish a full book.? They realized that if they shared their thoughts with a wider audience, it might prove to encourage others to create and nurture a relationship with a GRAND child.
The process of putting the book together was a collaborative effort.? Each author began by capturing her own special memories of grandparenting.? Each wrote about her own experiences and the things she had tried over the years when connecting with grandchildren or GRAND children.? Jacque and Patty periodically came together to share their stories and advice with each other.? There was no particular structure at first, but over time their stories, experiences, and advice seemed to fall naturally into categories, which later became the chapters of the book.? Patty recalls that each time they came together to share stories, they would be reminded of something else that they wanted to share.? They would hurry home and write up their latest thought, and the book continued to blossom.
As for the process of transforming their stories, advice, and ideas into a full-length, published book, the co-authors said that they ?owe a debt of gratitude? to Jacque?s husband, John Hancock.? ?He typed all of the text, scanned and touched up nearly 200 photos, composed the book again and again as it went through its edits and rewrites, and he designed and built the cover.?? In addition to all of this, John also contributed some of his own memories of priceless time spent with his much-loved grandchildren.
This book is full of heartwarming stories and practical advice that would be helpful and inspirational to anyone who loves to spend time with children.? The brief excerpts below give a sense of the kind of material that Jacque and Patty have gathered for their readers.? In the book, each of these excerpts is accompanied by specific examples of how one can make the most of each moment spent with young children.
- Research your family heritage.? Where did your ancestors come from?? Every family has a history, and it is likely that in a marriage two or more countries are represented.? Spend an evening researching those countries.? Children can draw a map or flag from their origins.? Then they can help you prepare an ethnic dinner.? It is wonderful to make all children feel proud of their heritage.
- Reading is the door to another world.? Are you taking a trip with your grandchild?? How about finding a book relating to the area you are visiting?? Read in the car to make the trip seem shorter, or read a portion of a story every evening as you travel.
- A small area of the yard (or a planter box) can be a great place to plant a garden.? Invite the grandkids to go with you to the store to purchase the seeds, and let each one pick the foods that they like to eat.? Preparing the soil, planting, and watering are all great lessons to learn alongside grandpa or grandma.? So much is learned in the soil; like it is okay to get your hands dirty or to pick up a worm or bug.? There will be nose wrinkling or squealing, which adds to the thrill.
- Do you have a talent or a hobby that you like to do?? Maybe you knit, crochet, do patchwork, or collect something.? Whatever it is, your grandchildren will want to learn how to do it, too.? My obsession is collecting beach glass and, sure enough, one granddaughter does the same thing.? The hunt is the most fun.? Hours have been spent walking and collecting.
- Did you know that Home Depot offers free woodworking classes for an adult and child the first Saturday of each month?? We know two grandpas who take their grandchildren to this workshop to build projects like a birdhouse together.? One grandpa says that afterwards there always has to be a stop for an ice cream cone to finish the trip.
There are so many other wonderful and inspiring ideas in this book ? like inviting your grandchildren for an extended visit to ?Camp Too-Much-Fun? at grandma and grandpa?s house (where they?ll start the day hearing Reveille and reciting the Pledge of Allegiance, and end it with s?mores around a portable fire pit), or making bath time endlessly entertaining with the purchase of bubbles, washable crayons, and a plastic tea party set.
At the end of Every Child a GRAND Child, Jacque and Patty included a section ?for friends and family members who love being with children.?? In this section, they encourage all adults who love children ? including those without biological children and/or grandchildren ? to find a way to connect with children who are in need of some extra nurturing.? ?We can tell you from our own experience,? write Jacque and Patty, ?that one of the most rewarding things in life is being in relationships with younger people.? It keeps us young.?? They then offer several specific examples of ways that adults can make a difference in the lives of young people.
Jacque pointed out that some of her favorite experiences as a grandparent happened right here at Trilogy.? She cheered her grandchildren on as they honed their swimming skills in the Trilogy pool, and went on to become certified SCUBA divers.? They even trained for the Danskin triathlon by swimming laps in the pool. She has had picnics with her grandkids in the public areas of the community, and held great tournaments in bocce ball and croquet.? The kids have enjoyed hikes on the trails and Easter egg hunts in the green belts. They love to have lunch at the club, and Jacque recalls that a few years ago, when the restaurant on the Trilogy golf course was named ?The Nines,? her granddaughter Marnie chose to celebrate her ninth birthday there with the family.? Jacque has also enjoyed seeing so many of her friends and neighbors creating wonderful memories with their own grandchildren (or GRAND children) around the community.
I asked Jacque and Patty to share with us the one thing that they hope their grandchildren will remember most about the time their grandparents have spent with them.
Jacque shared, ?Love begets love.? We want them to remember that theirs was a childhood filled with people who loved them unconditionally, including us, their grandparents.?
Patty shared, ?I hope my grandchildren will remember their times with us as fun, loving, and being accepted for who they are; that our love is unconditional.?
If you would like to learn more about Every Child a GRAND Child, please click here to find the book on Amazon.com, where you can preview several pages of the book and purchase it if you would like a copy of your own.
Thank you, Jacque and Patty!
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.Source: http://arizona-golf-retirement-communities.com/2013/03/celebrating-the-season-of-grandparenting/
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