The year in grandparents
The best stories from my site and around the web in 2016.
Happy Chanukah!
A New Jersey family marks the holiday each year with lights, cookies, and a party in honor of a long-lost matriarch.
“If your grandparents are still alive, embarrass them and yourself”
Ask your grandparents questions about themselves before it’s too late, urges novelist Michael Chabon.
Where do the happiest grandparents live?
Older adults in the United States enjoy greater well-being than younger ones, but they’re faring far better in some states than in others, according to a recent survey.
In Moana, Grandma knows best
You’ve probably heard about the latest blockbuster Disney movie and its teenaged heroine, Moana. But have you heard about her really awesome grandma?
Grandmothers, unite!
With Donald Trump, Mike Pence, and Steve Bannon headed to the White House, many of us are feeling powerless. We’re not.
The four-generation barbershop
Bob Townsend of Summersville, West Virginia practically grew up in the barbershop that his father opened in town during the Great Depression. Now, he owns the shop and employs his daughter, son-in-law, and grandson there.
Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs: A grandpa’s very tall tale
This picture book celebrates both the bond between kids and their grandparents and the transcendent power of a story well told.
“Grandmammy was all the world to me”
Though Frederick Douglass was born into slavery, he was “a spirited, joyous, uproarious, and happy boy,” thanks to his grandma, who raised and protected him.
Happy Halloween!
Thanks to Craig and Tina Abernethy of San Diego for submitting this shot of themselves with their granddaughter, Calla, on Halloween last year.
A grandmother and her Girl Scouts
All the Girl Scouts troops in her California town were full, so Kathy Richardson started a new one for her granddaughter and her friends.
Ann Patchett dreams of her grandmother
In a beautiful essay, the novelist Ann Patchett recalls how she moved back to her hometown—Nashville, Tennessee—when she was 30, largely to care for her grandmother.
Back to school, with Grandpa
Melanie Salazar, 18, just started her first year at Palo Alto College in San Antonio, Texas, where her grandpa, Rene Neira, is completing his associate’s degree.
What do your grandkids call you?
I’ve been asking grandparents around the country what they’re called and why. Here are a few of their stories.
How can grandparents help kids with autism?
The monumental stress of raising a child with autism can be eased by grandparents, who are often “ideally suited” to provide parents with support, scholars say.
Welcome to The Grandparent Effect
Grandparents are healthier, wealthier, and longer-lived than ever before. What does this mean for us all?
The grandparents who raised an Olympic champion
When she was six, Simone Biles was adopted by her grandparents. Now, she’s the best gymnast in the world.
The truth about the American family
Contrary to popular belief, Americans are nearly as likely today as they were in 1950 to live in a multigenerational household, according to a new study by the Pew Research Center.
Grandparents are healthier than ever
Grandparents are healthier than they were 30 years ago, even though they’re also older, a Canadian study has found.
From his grandparents, Obama learned these simple truths
“America has changed over the years,” President Obama told the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia. “But these values that my grandparents taught me, they haven’t gone anywhere.”
“Children should not bear the burden of unfinished grudges”
Grandparents and grandchildren need one another, so parents shouldn’t stand in the way, says grandmother and journalist Connie Schultz.
The very best books about the very best season
For kids, summer means freedom. These books beautifully capture that.
Five generations of blueberry pie
Nancy Schatz is famous in Maine for the blueberry pie she learned how to make from her mother, who learned how to make it from hers. Here’s the recipe, which Nancy’s granddaughters have begun to master, too.
Five myths about grandparents that it’s time to trash
Let’s ditch the stereotypes and start embracing the truth instead.
A writer, her granddaughters, and the magic of Sicily
Francine Prose returns to an island she fell in love with years ago.
Whales need grandmas, too
Female orcas who’ve undergone menopause play a critical role in helping their extended families find food, particularly during times of scarcity, scientists have learned.
Boys, grandparents, and “the best week ever”
A picture book about what happens when parents get out of the way.
What if every classroom had a grandparent?
Kids need love. Grandparents are good at giving it. That’s why an army of them is being recruited to serve in the public schools of Syracuse, New York, where too many students have been getting suspended and too few have been graduating.
“That’s what grandmas are for”
I love the way Michelle Obama toasted her mom, who moved into the White House to help raise her granddaughters, at a Mother’s Day Tea in 2014.
How to cook like an Italian grandma
You’ll need some olive oil, a good butcher, and this recipe for Neapolitan ragù.
The ultimate Easter egg
A retired pastry chef in Texas surprised his great-grandchildren on Easter with this one-of-a-kind confection.
The best picture books about spring
I spent the final weeks of winter reading all the picture books I could find about spring. Here are my favorites. They’re simple, they’re deep, and they’re as gorgeous as the season.
“Grandma’s love is what made Grandma’s garden grow”
A moving new song by country music star Zac Brown.
How Miss Rumphius made the world more beautiful
In this extraordinary picture book, a girl’s grandfather inspires her to live well and do good.
It’s never too late to join the Peace Corps
Alice Carter, 87, a grandmother from Boston, is halfway through a two-year stint with the Peace Corps in Rabat, Morocco, where she’s volunteering at a youth center.
“This is not the way we thought our lives would be”
Guy and Joanne Sinclair have been raising their granddaughter since their daughter got hooked on heroin.
These grandparents like to make noise
The women’s basketball team at Franklin College in Indiana has a not-so-secret weapon.
What Eleanor Roosevelt gave her granddaughter
After her husband died in 1945, Eleanor Roosevelt traveled the world as a diplomat, speaker, and activist. But she was never too busy for her granddaughter.
“I think I know my grandfather now”
As a boy, Allen Say barely knew his grandpa. As a man, he came to understand him. That’s why he created Grandfather’s Journey, a picture book for which he won the Caldecott Medal in 1994.
“Her mind was as sharp as ever”
Would her grandma remember her? Jane Kim, 41, wasn’t sure. It had been 23 years since she’d last visited her in Korea, and she was nearly 100 years old.
Grandparents matter. Here’s how.
Grandparents matter in profound, enduring, and sometimes unexpected ways. That’s what I learned from these recordings, which were made by three American families for the oral history project StoryCorps.