Grandchildren - what a blessing

I normally write political blogs, but as we get ready to leave on a Caribbean cruise with our six grand children, I am reminded of what is really important in this life.

We have six great children and they have blessed us with six "great" grandchildren. Many years ago our grandchildren started visiting us every summer for a week or more (without parents), at our ranch here on the Central Coast of California. At that time they were young - ages 5-9, and we spent our time with scavenger hunts, trips to the beach, the county fair, and we just let them play. Then over the years they grew up and we became more than grandparents, we became their friends.

Four years ago we felt they were old enough to start seeing more of the world and we took them on a week vacation to the Olympic Rain Forest in Washington State, and it turned out to be the vacation of a lifetime for them. So we decided to dip into our savings and create some memories . Since then we have been to Hawaii, and last year a trip to New York City, Philadelphia, Gettysburg, Niagara Falls and my birthplace, upstate New York.

In three days we leave on a one week cruise to the Western Caribbean with these "close friends" - just grandma, grandpa and the grand kids. They are now ages 15-19 and still love spending time with their grandparents - go figure...but we love it.

There is something about a family that more than any other thing represents the best in our lives. I don't know how other families interact, but I do know that ours is special. I read something once about families that I have never forgotten:

"The family is the primary unit of social life. For many it is the primary source of satisfaction as well, but nothing guarantees this. To the extent that a household consists of people whose lives are lived primarily apart, there are few satisfactions to be had from family. There is nothing magically satisfying even about having children. If I am the father of a child whom I abandon at birth, I may be pleased if the child turns out well despite my absence, but that happy outcome can give me no meaningful satisfaction. If I pay all the bills for my children's upbringing and delegate the work wisely to good nannies, teachers, physicians, and housekeepers but otherwise have little contact with the children, I now bear theoretical responsibility for how things turn out, and perhaps I can take some pallid satisfaction in my role. But that level of satisfaction is trivial compared to that of the parent who has stayed up all night with the croupy infant, overseen the homework, imparted the discipline, dried the tears, and shared the daily discoveries of growing up. If you want the profound satisfaction from raising children, you have to pay the price, which means spending time with them."

Better words were never spoken...you have to pay the price, and that price is time sharing their lives with them. My wife and I have often discussed this subject. It really isn't money, it is time spent with children, and now grand children, that counts, and when that window in their lives closes, it is gone forever. An hour playing or working together, or even just talking at the dinner table, can have a greater impact than a week of television or videos games. Yes, the parent-child relationship will always be there, but the close bond, the feeling of satisfaction and the sense of accomplishment watching that child go into the world can only come from spending the time with them when they are growing up.

It's a simple formula, but in today's world of upward mobility, high-stress careers, constant push to increase material wealth and endless activities, the important thing to remember is that family is the basis for everything else.