Generational Experiences

One of the joys of being a stay at home mom and a homeschooler is the freedom I have with my time. I took advantage of this by spending one afternoon a week with my husband's grandparents, aka Nina and Boppy. I started going over for lunch regularly when I was pregnant with Noah and continued after Lily was born and after Boppy passed and right up until the day we moved. In the last few years it evolved from lunchtime chitchats to game time to piano lessons for the kids.

What a blessing that time has been for all of us...to get to know and learn from the generations that have come before. We got to hear stories of days gone by as well as stories of my mother-in-law's childhood and family members that we'll never meet but who had an influence in some measure on our family today. It really helped me to feel more a part of my 'in-law' family and will be treasured memories for me and my kids for the rest of our lives. And it's not many kids who can say they learned how to play piano from their great-grandmother! We will sorely miss that tradition.

However, the great thing about moving to Pittsburgh is the fact that my family is here and we are not without a support system. Luke will get the chance to experience the blessing of in-laws who accept him whole-heartedly into their midst. We also have the chance to spend time with my grandmother and some great aunts and uncles.

The RP Home is a nursing and assisted living home where my mother works and also where many of my older relatives live. All of my grandparents lived there at one time but now only my maternal grandmother is living. This happens to be the grandmother who wrote her auto-biography, which was recently re-published as, Nadzieja, the Story of a Girl Named Hope. My daughter, Liliana Nadzieja, was named after her.

Just yesterday my sister and her boys, Sebastien (almost 9) and Oren (6) met us there to spend some time with her and two of my Great-Aunts who live there as well. I love that my children get the chance to know and be known by them! My grandmother, who is Russian, grew up in a Polish orphanage and has many stories to tell and she does so with her rolling Russian accent, which I just love to listen to. The kids sat drawing her pictures and telling her of their activities and what they are learning in school and she laughed and joked with them and told them that they were all going to be artists when they grow up. She should know as she was quite an accomplished painter as well as author.

We then had lunch with my paternal Great-Aunt, Jean and then my maternal Great-Aunt, Shirley who lives across the hall joined us for games and puzzles. Noah and Lily loved playing games and putting puzzles together with Nina and now they can do the same with their great, great aunts. Noah desperately wants to beat Aunt Jean at Othello as he played and lost to her the last time we were in Pittsburgh for a visit.

I don't know if this will be as regular a thing as our Fridays with Nina but we will definitely be using some of our free time to spend with these wonderful relatives.