YOUNG PEOPLE ASK . . .Why Should I Get to Know My Grandparents?

A Special Bond of love

Your relationship with your grandparent may also be free of some of the tensions  that youths sometimes experience with their  parents.  Why might this be so?  For one thing, grandparents often enjoy a special bond with their grandchildren.  The Bible says:  "Old men are proud of their grandchildren." -Proverbs 17:6, Today's English Version. 

Remember, too, that it is your parents-not your grandparents-who must bear the heavy responsibility of raising you "in discipline and mental-regulating of Jehovah."  (Ephesians 6:4) Because their role is less demanding, your grandparents are usually not encumbered by the responsibilities and pressures of the daily care of the family.  Because they may be relatively free of such stresses, it may be easier for them to respond to your needs or to pay attention to you. Seventeen-year-old Tom recalls the attention he got from his grandparents.  They would send him "little gifts for getting good report cards"; they even paid for his piano lessons. 

Of course, not all grandparents are able to provide such gifts, but they may still demonstrate their interest in you, perhaps by offering you praise and encouragement or by giving you a hearing ear from time to time.  This can forge deep bonds of friendship between you. Damaris says regarding her grandmother:  "She makes me feel at ease, and I can go to her and talk to her at any time because she is always willing to listen-even if I am not making sense at the time." A youth named Jonatas similarly enjoys freeness of speech  and the opportunity to talk about serious subjects with his grandparents.

Next time: YOUNG PEOPLE ASK .  .  . Why Should I Get to Know My Grandparents?/An Interchange

From the Awake!  magazine