By Lauren Rabin
It’s not quite Grandparents Day as I write this article, but it will have passed to those reading it. Trusting all grandparents in our community felt celebrated!
National Grandparents Day is rooted in the innovative work of two committed and passionate pioneers: Jacob Reingold and Marian McQuade. During the 1961 White House Conference on Aging, Jacob Reingold of the Hebrew Home at Riverdale was inspired by a speech concerning the “new image of the aged,” and focused on recognizing the role of millions of older Americans who are grandparents. That same year, on September 16, 1961, the first day specifically honoring grandparents was held at the Hebrew Home. By 1963 it became an official holiday in the borough of the Bronx. The same borough where my Grandparents lived and where I spent many summers!
In 1970, Marian McQuade began a campaign to establish a special day of recognition for grandparents. Through her efforts, she reached out to the civic, business, faith, and political leaders and began a statewide campaign for Grandparents Day. In 1973, the first Grandparents Day in West Virginia was proclaimed by Governor Arch Moore.
Congress passed the legislation proclaiming the first Sunday after Labor Day as National Grandparents’ Day in the U.S. and, on August 3, 1978, then-President Jimmy Carter signed the proclamation. Carter’s proclamation said, in part: As we seek to strengthen the enduring values of the family, it is appropriate that we honor our grandparents.
As a new grandparent, I often think about my grandmother Sophie, and how special she was to me and how grateful I was for her unconditional love. Of course, she was able to do fun things with her grandchildren. Every year she took me back to school shopping at her favorite store Bloomingdales, where I could pick out 5 outfits that she placed on her “charge card” and always paid off in three installments. My mother wouldn’t let me wear jeans (she called them dungarees), but my grandmother bought me my first pair from Rogers, and I wore them to school on Mondays. Wednesday and Fridays. My love of prunes was inspired by her purchase of prune danishes.
When I went off to college, my grandmother bought me monogrammed towels so that no one would confuse my towels with theirs. I still use a hand towel from forty-three years ago with my initials LEO… which full circle is my youngest grandson’s name.
My grandmother was the kindest person I knew, and she always said, “if you don’t have something nice to say, don’t say it at all.” Which is why in the current social media environment I try to heed her words. I also wonder what she would have posted if she was alive today… a recipe for her pork chops and sauerkraut made in a dutch oven… how to best knit or crochet clothes for Barbie dolls… pictures of her great grandchildren and great-great grandchildren? What I do know is that she would use social media to lift people up and not tear people down, not point out who is right and who is wrong. She would not say something online that she was not brave enough to say to someone’s face. Since my grandmother was also bi-lingual, I remember her saying “buty pryyemno” (“be nice’). Grandma, you were my role model!
Thank you to all the grandparents for being our role models, I hope you all celebrated your day by doing something grand! I hope we can all honor our grandparents by lifting each other up… especially on social media. I also wish I saved all those Barbie doll clothes my grandmother made!
Lauren Rabin is our Selectwoman, a grateful granddaughter and grandmother.
