When you think about your grandparents, you should take a moment to not only reflect on how much they are still doing at this point in their lives, but also think about how much they’ve accomplished over their lifetimes. The wisdom they possess and the events and possible hardships they have been through are not to be ignored.
For these reasons, National Grandparents’ Day is a day of recognition and celebration of our aging family members.
National Grandparents’ Day is a secular holiday celebrated in the United States the first Sunday after Labor Day weekend. Back in 1978, Congress passed the legislation creating the holiday, and on August 3, 1978, President Jimmy Carter signed the proclamation.
The purpose of the day is “…to honor grandparents, to give grandparents an opportunity to show love for their children’s children, and to help children become aware of the strength, information and guidance older people can offer.”
In 1973, the idea of the holiday originated with Marion McQuade of Oak Hill, West Virginia. McQuade wanted to educate the youth in her community about the important contributions seniors have made throughout history. She is recognized nationally as the founder of National Grandparents’ Day.
Others claim another founder of the holiday is Hermine Beckett Hanna of North Syracuse, New York, who pushed for recognition of seniors and their importance as far back as 1961.
Today, Grandparents’ Day is celebrated throughout the world in various ways. In the United States, the holiday is beginning to emerge out of obscurity as the number of grandparents in the country rises. By 2020, there will be an estimated 80 million grandparents in our country as a result of the aging Baby Boomer generation.
The organization Caring Across Generations has been a longtime advocate of the holiday. The organization’s goal is to make Grandparents’ Day “a holiday worthy of the celebration that our grandparents deserve.” This year, the organization created a “Throwback Summer” online contest, in which people were encouraged to submit photos and stories of their grandparents in different categories like “Best Dressed” or “Most Talented”. The contest opened in July and the winner will be announced on Grandparents’ Day.
One of the goals of the contest was to connect young people with their grandparents in order to learn more about their lives. At American Senior Communities, we encourage families to visit their aging loved ones regularly and we also encourage our residents to share their amazing life stories.
One of the ways we achieve this is though our book, Special Stories of Seniors, which is full of wonderful stories of our residents. Each week we reveal a new chapter, so be sure to bookmark our website and come back to read more!
From all of us at American Senior Communities, we wish our residents a very Happy Grandparents’ Day!
For more information about American Senior Communities, please visit www.asccare.com/.
