Two photos, each of a mother and a grandmother. The top picture is my mother holding our first baby, Seth. The photo above is, of course, Janice, holding our first grand child, Cam.
Conditions were interesting to say the least when Janice had Seth and Grant. Both were born at a clinic about 5 miles from where we were farming. In both cases, Janice and baby went home a few hours after they were born. Each time I took her and baby to spend a few days at my parent's house located on their farm a mile or so away. That's how it came about this photo of my mother came to be. She was holding her grandson, in her house. He was not even 24 hours old.
Fast forward 34 years and on the opposite side of the country. The next generation of grandma is holding her first grandson. A far cry from the little small town clinic where Cam's dad, Grant was born, this little guy came into the world in a modern hospital in Philadelphia. Where Janice and I raised our sons in a very much "seat of the pants" style, Cam's generation has the advantage of parents tuned into a wealth of parenting information and support.
My mom was not your quintessential grandmother. She took her house work and farm work seriously to the point it was a full time job. The idea that because she was only a mile away we had an automatic built in baby sitter just didn't hold water. But she did fulfill the main requirement of all grandparents. We only have one main responsibility, love our grandkids unconditionally.
When you look at these two photos, is their any doubt each of these mothers, each of these grandmothers are enjoying upholding that requirement?
There will be all kinds of different tributes to mothers today; gifts, brunches, cards. To my discredit, I've never been good at that kind of thing. So I guess this will be mine.
Two photos.
Two mothers.
Two grandmothers.
Two examples of unconditional love.
1 comment:
Both in colour, not your normal B&W imagery however both very note worthy in their own way.
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