Babies are sometimes the most unexpected, yet beautiful gifts to enter a person's family. Defining what it is like to love a child is difficult. For some grandparents, this means being there when the first sonogram is taken, discovering that this little person exists. It means sitting next to your daughter in the hospital bed waiting 20 long hours just to hear that first cry. It means having a bond with a small bundle of joy that is a descendant of your bloodline. You know that you are the reason this life was made.
Unfortunately, for some grandparents, this relationship often gets cut short. There are mothers and fathers out there that believe they can keep their child/children away from their grandparents. Many have good reasons, however, some do not. In my parents' case, they were forbidden to see my niece because they did not want my sister's boyfriend over to their house anymore due to him putting my niece in danger, and threatening my father and me.
Luckily for my parents, they acted quickly. They got a lawyer and took my sister to court for visitation. The case is still going on, and they have been granted one visitation per week. Sadly, not all grandparents know that there are, in some cases, legal rights for grandparents. Although it varies by state, if the grandparents played an active role in the child's life, they could have legal ground to petition for visitation. Even this being so, it is not an easy process as my family and I are now experiencing.
Grandparents can give children some of their best memories. I know how much I cherished going to my grandmother's for holidays, weekends, and just to spend time with her after school. There is a different kind of bond between grandparents and grandchildren. They let you get away with a lot more than your parents do, but they give wise advice at the same time. They make you laugh at some of the corniest jokes and cook some of the best meals you will ever have in your life.
Most of all, they love their grandchildren more than anything. After all, they are the last kids that they will have to watch over. From personal experience, nothing is more rewarding to my mother then watching her grandbaby grow and explore. Knowing that there is a piece of her that will be left in this world when she departs is something that is indescribable.
It may never make sense to me why some parents won't allow their kids to see their grandchildren, but I can tell you that that can be the biggest mistake. Grandparents deserve to see their grandchildren. Babies and toddlers, especially, because they can be one of the few steady relationships in their lives. If anything were to ever happen to a child's parents, their grandparents would be next of kin. It isn't fair to a child to deny them the right to be around family that loves them, especially at a young age. Grandparents are important, and should not be written off as strangers to a child they love.
"A child needs a grandparent, anybody’s grandparent, to grow a little more securely into an unfamiliar world." - Charles and Ann Morse
