Thoughts on grandparenting

Not too long ago I had lunch with some friends from my high school batch. And amidst the din of loud conversation mostly dealing with recollections of people and things past, I realized with a sense of awe that our generation is now the generation of grandfathers and grandmothers. Everyone was speaking animatedly of their grandchildren while readily whipping out photos from their wallets to show them off… I realized too with a tinge of sadness that, even as I was already approaching my 70’s and able to show off the photo of my only grandchild Nicole on my cellphone, I hardly knew the feeling of what it means to be a grandfather…

The feeling surfaced once more last Sunday when I received a text from a niece greeting me with a “Happy Grandparents’ Day to the best grandfather in the world!” I thanked her for the thought. But deep inside, I thought: “Ay, oo nga, grandparents day daw pala ngayon. What a big deal!”

Again, last night I watched an episode of “Maalaala Mo Kaya” (a popular Tagalog television drama serial). I seldom watch this program but I must admit I waited with anticipation for this particular episode because it was about the life story of a grandfather and his granddaughter skillfully and beautifully played by Ronaldo Valdez as the grandfather and Dimples Romana as the granddaughter. I won’t deal with the story itself; suffice it to say that I cried a bucketful.

I thought I felt that way because I was still in a parenting or fathering mode with my three daughters still around or at least near me while my only granddaughter Nicole is living thousands of miles away where our only means of communication is an occasional “Hi” and “Hello” through the computer.

It occurred to me too that I do not know what it truly means to be a grandfather because I never really felt the love of a grandfather. I never met my grandfather on my father’s side while I never really became close to my maternal grandfather who lived away from us when he was alive.

They say, in jest of course, that parents discipline their children while grandparents spoil them.

Would I still have the chance to “spoil” a grandchild at this point in time of my life and really feel what it means to be a grandfather? I certainly hope so…