That was captured beautifully by a nine-year-old boy named Jordan, who wrote the following essay. It’s a fitting way to honor all grandfathers this Father’s Day.
The dad in my life isn’t really my dad; he’s my grandpa. But he’s been like a dad to me since before I was born.
Four months before I was born my real father left my mommy. My Grandpa drove 400 miles to come get my mommy and me. He took care of my mommy until I was born. When I came home from the hospital there was a cradle that Grandpa made just for me. Someday, my kids will sleep in the same cradle.
When I was a baby I cried a lot at night. Grandpa would walk me around and around the kitchen table. He rocked me to sleep and he was my first babysitter. Now I’m nine years old and Grandpa is my best buddy. We do lots of things together. We go to zoos, museums, and parks. We watch baseball games on TV and we have Chex Mix together, just the two of us.
When I was four my grandpa spent a whole summer building me a playhouse with a big sandbox underneath. He made me a tire swing and pushes me lots of times in it. He pushes me real high, way up over his head. Now he spends all his extra time building new rooms on our house so that Mommy and I will have our own apartment.
My grandpa used to be a Boy Scout and now he helps me with Cub Scouts. He likes to tell me about things that happened when he was a little boy and when my mommy and uncle were little.
My grandpa is really patient. When he is busy building things, he always takes time to start a nail so that I can pound it in. After he’s spent all day mowing our big lawn he is really tired, but he will still hook my wagon up to the lawn mower and drive me all over the place.
My grandpa loves Jesus and he wants me to learn about Him too. Sometimes people on TV talk about kids from single-parent families. I’m not one of them because I have three parents in my family. My grandpa isn’t my father, but I wouldn’t trade him for all the dads in the world.
Granddads, you may or may not be in the same situation as Jordan’s grandpa, but you can still have that kind of influence and create that kind of relationship with your grandchild. You have a lot to offer the children in your life—your own grandkids and others.
Thank you for your dedication and for just doing what you do. Happy Father’s Day.
What do you appreciate about the grandfathers you know? Join the (Grand)Father’s Day celebration on our Facebook page here.
Brock Griffin is Executive Editor & Writer at the National Association for Grandparenting and co-author of the book It’s Great Being a Dad (2015). Brock handles or helps with many of NAFG's writing and editing projects, including Grands Matter magazine, books, blogs, e-mails, and articles for outside publications. Previously he spent more than 24 years with the National Center for Fathering, where he was instrumental in building the foundation for NCF’s content and many of its projects. He has bachelor's and master's degrees in English and creative writing from Kansas State University, where he won several fellowships and awards for his work. Brock and his wife Tara have three children and live in the Kansas City area.
