The mother of the youngest grandchildren said that the seven year old grandson wants to see the movie, Annie, when he comes to Florida for the winter holidays. Of course, that meant that this Grandma started reading reviews. The most important review for the movie for me was not on Common Sense Media where this Grandma usually goes first. The most important review was in the New York Times on Christmas Day. The blurb said, “The updated movie musical can inspire a conversation with children about social class, wealth, possessions and what is truly valuable.” The entire review can be found at NY Times.
The title of the review by Ron Lieber, “What ‘Annie’ Can Tell Us About Money,” is not really his ultimate theme. He concludes with:
Mediocre singing and dancing aside, what “Annie” can teach with just a bit of prompting and a few open-ended questions is this: We get the greatest joy from our relationships and shared experiences with those people we love, not from the things we own.
Sharing family time.
Sharing family stories.
Sharing family history.
That is how this Grandma says extend Annie’s message as a 2015 New Year’s resolution.
It is up to each grandma to be the glue that holds the diverse family personalities together and creates the shared experiences that build family stories and family history.
This Grandma recently got copies of original documents from the U.S. Holocaust Museum regarding her birth in Germany after World War II as a stateless and displaced person, documents in the original handwriting of parents when they had just survived the Holocaust. I am still able to open only the few first documents, as emotions run too strong. Even in those first documents, unknown family history came alive. For the first time, I learned the maiden surnames of grandparents that were murdered.
Sharing this with long (we never say old) friends, I learned that even those born American, with American grandparents, did not know this information. It seems that time goes by and we do not share our family stories and family history. It was not only that my parents were so traumatized by the horrific experiences not to share. Living life interferes with sharing.
So, for 2015, grandmas everywhere SHARE. Share family time. Share family stories. Share family history. And share your wisdom and experience. Memorialize the sharing.
Upon the birth of the first grandson, the parents of the grandchild took out a video camera (it was eleven years ago, pre iphone video) and had each great grandparent hold the newborn and give the newborn advice on life and living. Those recorded moments are priceless and memorialized for generations to come. We do not have to wait for such an important life passage event to ask to be recorded with a message, a story, a history, . .
even a family recipe. . .holding a precious grandchild.
We get the greatest joy from our relationships and shared experiences with those people we love, not from the things we own.
This Grandma will also share through this blog in 2015 . . . .with
Joy,
Mema
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