I've heard stories from my friends and classmates who were close to their grandparents about all of the joys that come with having them in your life. Unfortunately, having a close relationship with my grandparents was something I never had and will never have. Everyone has four grandparents, so you have four chances of having a grandparent/grandchild relationship. Although, I only had two chances of having this relationship because two of my grandparents passed away before I had the chance to meet them.
My mom is from the Philippines and she moved to America alone when she 20 years old so her mother was still in the Philippines when she moved to America. Although, my mom's mother, Eliza, passed away when I was 10 years old. My mom's father, Andre, actually passed away when my mom was really young so I would have never even gotten the chance to meet him. To this day, I have not had the opportunity to travel to the Philippines, but it is something that I have always wanted to do. I wish I had gotten the chance to travel there sooner because I would have loved to meet my grandmother, Eliza.
As you can tell, there isn't much I could have changed to have had a relationship with my grandparents on my mom's side. Although, on my dad's side, my grandparents are a different story. My dad's parents are Steve and Marilyn. My dad also has a step-mother, Betty. When I was younger I remember going to visit my grandma, Marilyn, in her apartment where she lived alone. She would give me pop-tarts to eat and dolls to play with, although, we never developed a close relationship. She passed away when I was 12 years old.
I've always wondered whether there was something I could have done differently to become closer to my grandma, but I was young and I still wonder the same thing to this day. My only living grandparent today is my papa, Steve. We definitely do not have a close relationship at all. He is very aloof from my dad and his brothers so he definitely does not take an active role as a grandparent for me, my brother, or my two cousins.
From what I remember my grandma, Marilyn always wanted to know how I was doing and what I liked to do. Even though my papa, Steve, asks me about the same things, he never seems to really care about what I tell him. He has always found excuses to not attend different family events, and, when he does show up, he doesn't engage in a lot conversation with any of the family members.
I have wondered what it would be like to have a close relationship with my grandparents like the grandparent/grandchild relationship I see in movies. Especially like Charlie Bucket in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory who had all four of his grandparents living right next to him (I absolutely love that movie). Even though I didn't have a close relationship with my grandparents, this only leaves room for me to grow and learn from my experience. I hope I can become the loving grandma who bakes cookies and showers her grandkids with gifts and love when I get older.
