Grandparents Parenting Grandchildren
By: Karen WeHunt Harden | wharden1950@gmail.com
The blessings and tragedies are intertwined. Due to a series of unfortunate events, extremely poor choices, and short-sightedness (aka selfishness), there is enough blame to go around.
Mother was raised by her grandmother, Elzie Carnell, and Aunt Alice Carnell Willis. My husband, Jim, and his sister were raised by their grandmother and aunt. Since my grandson was four years old, he has been with us with no regrets. Otherwise, he would have no doubt been sold for body parts to support alcohol/drug addictions. There are many sad situations.
Our grandchildren’s parents are missing out on being involved, seeing their children grow up, and the children becoming accomplished in academics, sports or the arts. Perhaps this is cruel but justified well-deserved punishment.
As of September 2023, over 2.4 million children are being raised in kinship/grand families in the USA, according to http://www.gksnetwork.org. Is there a family in your sphere of influence not touched by this challenge/opportunity? If your family is not directly involved, tune in to a family who faces this circumstance. Come alongside them and offer an ear, have empathy, and help in any way. These grandparents need family members, friends, neighbors, and their community to encourage them and lend a helping hand. Take a boy fishing or offer to host a sleepover for little girls to give the grandparents a break.
At Thanksgiving, we have a tremendous amount to be grateful for. Hopefully, most families in our neck of the woods are stable, responsible, and properly raising their children. Let’s remember the grandparents parenting their grandchildren throughout the year and be the ones who make a difference, even if it is a little difference. Effort on your part is valuable, appreciated, and immeasurable.
Karen Harden is a local author from Spartanburg, SC. She authored Hope From Stalag Luckenwalde: Fifteen Pounds of Love Letters. It was written after Karen and her brother discovered an old cedar chest filled with love letters written between their father and mother, Clarence and Sara WeHunt, during WWII. The love letters document much of their everyday lives while Clarence was over seas and Sara was living in Woodruff, SC. You can find her book Hope From Stalag Luckenwalde: Fifteen Pounds of Love Letters on Amazon.
Author: Tracy Sanders
