Blessed

My children have been blessed. They are blessed with oodles of grandparents who love them. They have both of my parents in their life, as well as my ex-husband's father. Though my ex-husband's mother is still living, she cannot be bothered with getting to know my children, and they do not even know that she exists. I know that is sad, and I used to stress about it, but I cannot spend my time stressing about it, it is her loss, and maybe not my children's loss.

They are also blessed to have both my maternal and my paternal grandparents in their lives. Though my ex-husband's maternal grandmother is still alive, again she cannot be bothered with getting to know my children and thus they do not know she exists. I am excitedly trying to plan a trip to New Jersey this summer with my children so that they will meet my father-in-law's mother, who is also still alive.

I believe that family bonds are important, and my children are so blessed to have so many grandparents. However I also recognize that my grandparents (and my father-in-law's mother) are getting quite old. I worry about how much time they have left to spend with my children. Right now both my paternal grandfather in Florida and my maternal grandfather in Ohio are sick, and one is having surgery next week. They aren't getting any younger....and I am saddened at the thought that my children will experience death and dying and grief at a much younger age than I did (as I haven't really experienced it with someone I am very close to yet!). I am not even sure how to help my children deal with grief and death and dying, as I have no experience with it.

But even as my grandparent's time draws nearer, my children are still blessed, and loved.