Yes, they are. God’s reward, that is. Grandchildren are god’s reward for not having killed your own kids. I posted a piece called “It Doesn’t Get Better Than This,” on August 5, 2007, which was something of a paean to the joys of grandparenting. Upon rereading it recently, I’m prepared to double down on everything I said or tried to say then. I’ve also alluded to traveling with grandchildren in a series of posts in 2012 under the rubric of “Europe with the Grandkids,” wherein I referenced our familial policy of undertaking a major travel outing with each of our grandchildren on or about their 12th...
S. and I announced our intention to take a trip with each of our eight grandchildren without considering the considerable consequences. Chief among these consequences is the curious choice of places on this planet that would be suitable for a multi-generational ten day outing and selected to visit. It’s now lost in the mists of my declining memory whether our darling granddaughter Annabel suggested the Galapagos Islands or if I suggested that she might want to suggest the Galapagos. In any case, in April of 2010 we found ourselves breathing the lofty airs of Quito, Ecuador and frolicking in the not so warm waters of the Humboldt Current surrounding the...
“Grandchildren are god’s reward for not having killed your own kids.” anon When S. and I were rewarded with our first grandchild, my first act was to go to Amazon to look for books that would tell me how to be a good grandparent or at least not screw it up too badly. I ordered six of them that have long since gathered dust on my bookshelves in my office at the farm. I glanced at them and may have even skimmed through the table of contents, only to quickly realize that whoever these books were written for, it wasn’t me. If there is a grandparenting skill that I could have taken lessons on, it would be titled, “How to tell your friends and neighbors that your...
Gary J. Fernandes
After 30 years in the world of big business, Gary “retired” to pursue long ignored interests. While continuing his involvement in the corporate world by serving as a director of several public companies, he has, among other things, traveled the world in pursuit of the perfect bird photograph, served national and local charities as a director and donor, developed a personal web site as a platform for his writing on subjects of personal interest, and, occasionally, taken time to smell the roses.
Gary and his wife Sandra, shuttle between their condo in Dallas and their farm in Fannin county, Texas where they indulge themselves in organic gardening, long walks and entertaining friends and family.
