Grandfathers Are Like Gold Every Family's Treasure Anecdotes and Reflections

From Chapter One: Heroes and Wise Men Grandparents, like heroes, are as necessaryto a child's growth as vitamins.Joyce AllstonMy grandfather was a wonderful role model.Through him I got to know the gentle side of men.Sarah LongYou must teach your children thatthe ground beneath their feet is the ashes ofour grandfathers. So they will respect the land,tell your children that the earthis rich with the lives of our kin.Teach your children what we have taught our children,that the earth is our mother.Whatever befalls the earth befallsthe sons of the earth.If men spit upon the ground,they spit upon themselves.Chief Seattle A Grandfather's Wisdom TheWisdomof making sense of life and appreciatingwhat I've accomplished.TheWisdomof understanding, and loving my familywithout judging.TheWisdomof maintaining integrity regardless of today's social mores.TheWisdomof accepting circumstances I'm powerlessto change.TheWisdomof preserving my own personal identity,and high esteem.TheWisdomof adapting to life's cycles and a newgeneration.TheWisdomof sharing the pride of roots and traditions.Charles Walton A Hero for All Seasons Forget about all those overpaid sports stars. A real hero is someone who transcends all generations. John Glenn is such a man.John Glenn, seventy-seven, grandfather, senator, and astronaut, who was born when men took to the skies in rickety biplanes, is no publicity stunt. What he has been, and is once again, is an authentically American, can-do kind of hero, a profile in courage, who now also ranks as a role model for an aging American society in which seniors won't and don't have to settle for a rocker on the front porch. He is a living example of "You're only as old as you feel."Glenn's flight on the shuttle Discovery not only tested the limits of space but also powerfully validated what older Americans can do and the contributions they can make. It showed us that it's never too late, and that dreams can be pursued at any age.Once again the veteran TV newsman Walter Cronkite, eighty-two, covered the event, and Glenn's wife, Annie, and their two children looked on, just as they had in 1962, except this time they were accompanied by Glenn's two teenage grandchildren.Glenn was forty when he first flew into space thirty-six years ago. Doctors who examined him before this flight said he had the heartbeat and other medical measures of a man still in his forties. That's a tribute to the physical regime Glenn and many seniors -- including myself -- are following these days and which contributes to vitality and longevity.Glenn's second launch captivated America as no space mission had for decades. "I don't think grandchildren are ever going to look at their grandparents in the same way again," said Robert Butler, one of the nation's foremost gerontologists, and at seventy-one, director of the International Longevity Center at New York's Mount Sinai Medical Center.Maybe I'm oversentimental, but I think America owed John Glenn this ride. His courage, his energy, and his indomitable spirit remain an inspiration not just to his generation but to all generations. Godspeed, John Glenn! The best is yet to come.Bernard Bogart Whether a grandfather is a celebrity,a millionaire, an intellectual, or justan all-around good guy,he is a hero to his grandchildren.No braver knight ever sat atKing Arthur's Round Table thanthe man sitting at the headof the family dining table.Linda ColemanGrandfathers are gentle but strong;to children they are like a port in a storm,warm and secure.Joan BartlettLike a father, a grandfather can preacha better sermon with his life than his lip.MelLanese, Janet is the author of 'Grandfathers Are Like Gold Every Family's Treasure Anecdotes and Reflections' with ISBN 9780684862170 and ISBN 0684862174.