Regarding Grandparents and Grandmothers in particular, my spouse summed it up in a few choice words. “If God decides to call you, the grandkids are going to be in a heap of trouble.”

Grandparents are, after all, the benefactor, advocate, champion and guardian all combined in one ‘grand parent’.

The kids are aware of this.

Their parents accept it.

There are no sides taken, no emotional eruptions, only love, support and most of all guidance. These are the benefits of grand parenting.

Many ages ago, my grammar school teachers introduced me to Thanksgiving. In those days it was a celebration to thank the pilgrims who came to the (now) United States from a place called England. It is now a celebration of the earlier-and-earlier coming of Santa Claus (who came to the United States from a place called the North Pole).

My parents and other relatives weren't born in the U.S., so we really didn't celebrate Thanksgiving and knew little about its background. My friends and I loved it 'cause it meant a day off of school. To my parents and grandparents, who owned a very small grocery store, it meant an early closing. The store couldn't be closed all day because their customers needed food to celebrate the holiday and had neither the money, the space or the refrigeration to pre-buy the food needed. Usually, after the store closed early, it was naptime -- a rare and sorely needed treat for my parents, and time for me to enjoy my day off of school. I quickly learned that most days were "thanksgiving" to my relatives who came to the United States by fleeing from Eastern Europe. It seems that most of us have lots of different reasons to celebrate Thanksgiving -- but all of those reasons seem to start with family, and of course, the pilgrims - whoever they were.

When I began working after college, I worked in retail. I later learned that the day after Thanksgiving was the busiest day of the year for retail sales of clothes, toys, etc. (and the day after Christmas was the busiest day of the year for the return of clothes, toys, etc.) How I longed for those naps!

I must leave now to get an early start on my shopping. I can see the retail Santas already.

Happy Thanksgiving.