Tag: life

Children’s Books about Life with the Elderly

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Sometimes it’s fun to explore a theme through different books. A while ago, I composed my thoughts on a selection of children’s books that have the theme of “Life with the Elderly”. Whether a grandparent is moving in or there are elderly people in the community, children will cross paths with someone who is “a little bit older”. While this can be a great blessing all around, sometimes children don’t know or feel unsure of how to relate to the elderly. I can empathize because I struggled with this even when I wasn’t so young. Perhaps these books could give someone else a lift in the right direction!

Grandma’s Attic series by Arleta Richardson

Here is a collection of stories to inspire children to seek out tales from those who are a little bit older. With each chapter, venture into a new story passed down to Arleta Richardson by her grandmother Mabel. Be prepared to laugh and learn along the way as Mabel and her best friend Sarah Jane grow up in Michigan over a hundred years ago. Parents will also discover good talking points about the issues Mabel encounters.

I first read these stories when I was about nine years old and later read many of them to a girl I babysat for years. We both loved them! The tales are not only laugh-aloud funny but also truly priceless thanks to the distinctively Christian way in which Grandmother Mabel shares them. (The older editions of this book have larger print. If that is a concern, you can still find them on ebay or Amazon.) 

The Cul-da-sac Kids and the Great TV Turnoff by Beverly Lewis

In this book from the Cul-da-sac Kids series, Eric comes up with a big idea: Maybe the Cul-da-sac Kids should join National TY-Turnoff Week! But when everyone decides to join in, going without TV turns out to be a lot harder than Eric thought. 

Thankfully, his Grandpa, who lives with Eric and his mom, comes to the rescue. Eric’s family also reaches out to the elderly man who lives at the end of the street…with surprising results! 

This chapter book is engaging for young readers and models healthy relationships with older family and community members. And, let’s admit, a little inspiration to go without TV could be a good thing for all of us!

My Own Grandpa by Leone Castell Anderson

Little Andrew has two problems: He is lonely, and he wishes for a nearby Grandpa who could do special things with him. Then his mother takes him to Green Meadows Manor. There Andrew meets people who are all just a little bit older, including Mr. William Barker. You can guess this story’s happy ending.

Although it is not explicitly Christian, I like this Little Golden Book for several reasons. First of all, the story illustrates how children need older people in their lives and vice versa. Then it shows children how to act around the elderly (e.g. Andrew tries to start a conversation and shakes Mr. Barker’s hand when they meet). However, it also recognizes that older people may appear scary to children at first. Lastly, My Own Grandpa demonstrates creative problem solving as Andrew’s mother takes her lonely little boy to meet other lonely people and finds a man who could be like his own Grandpa. 

The Boxcar Children #4 Mystery Ranch & The Boxcar Children #54 Hurricane Mystery by Gertrude Chandler Warner

In The Boxcar Children #4 Mystery Ranch, Jesse and Violet head west to care for their Great-Aunt Jane whose health is dwindling and whose contrary nature is driving her housekeeper crazy. At first, Aunt Jane is unfriendly and uncooperative, but Jesse and Violet’s resourcefulness and kindness yield eventually happy results. As in all Boxcar Children adventures, a mystery develops and soon Henry and Benny join the girls at Mystery Ranch to help solve the case! 

The Hurricane Mystery (#54 in The Boxcar Children series) finds Henry, Jesse, Violet and Benny on Sullivans Island off the coast of South Carolina. They are there to help an elderly friend of Grandfather Alden’s, Mrs. Ashleigh, repair her home after a hurricane. But what is so special about the gate in front of Mrs. Ashleigh’s house? Could there be some connection to the stories of pirates’ buried treasure? With another hurricane on its way, will the four children be able to solve the mystery in time and will Mrs. Ashleigh be able to keep her home?

While the Boxcar Children’s adventures are not explicitly Christian, these two do reflect an active care both in and beyond one’s own family for those who are just a little bit older. In Mystery Ranch readers can see one picture of what it might be like caring for an (at first) less-than-cooperative elderly person. Mrs. Ashleigh in The Hurricane Mystery is a contrast to Great-Aunt Jane (the grumpy Great-Aunt Jane, that is) because Mrs. Ashleigh herself is very active and engaged in her community, but she still needs help after her home is damaged and the Aldens’ active compassion for her is worthy of imitation. The book also deals with an issue many elderly people face: Mrs. Ashleigh’s son wants her to move out of her home while she doesn’t want to at all! (After seeing how supported she is by her community, her son apologizes and decides she can stay in her own home.) The mystery elements keep the story going. I recommend these two as books that you can talk about with children.

Grandma’s Moving In! by Stephanie M. Cone

This picture book is a delightful tool for showing young children how they can be a blessing in many little ways to their grandparents and other older people. It is especially helpful for families who are in the midst of a grandparent moving in. The Christian perspective and sensitive spirit behind it make it a story worthy of a place on your bookshelf. 

There you go! Why not visit the library or the Kindle store, and settle in with a favorite little one to share these stories together?

 

Your turn! What resources do you use to teach children how to act around the older people in their lives? Or, if you are “a little bit older”, are there things you wish children knew that could help you all get along better?

A Grief Novembered

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I’m discovering that grief goes through seasons. That makes sense since it’s intertwined into life, right?

And November is when the frills fade and grief settles down to overcast, bare realities. Note I didn’t say bad realities. The realities are just bare, stripped of the things that hide them or give them a rosy glow at other times of the year.

Today it has been nine months since Grandma passed away. So much has happened that I’d like to tell her about. If I could write her a letter, it would go something like this…

Dear Grandma,

I’ve been missing you more lately. I didn’t know that it would work like that – that I would miss you more later than at first. Maybe it’s because I’ve realized you won’t be here for Thanksgiving pie and I won’t be trying to figure out what to get you for Christmas. A lot of what I miss is getting to chat with you. Whether on the way to church or over our quiches and scones at that little coffee shop or here at home, we did a fair amount of chatting, didn’t we?

I’d like to be able to tell you about the changes in my life. Best of all is the new precious grandbaby. Tiny toes, always-moving hands, sleepy chirps, and kiss-me-please chubby cheeks! It really is true that babies grow so fast. Beyond that, you would love my new group of students. They’re exceptional, and I’m not just biased. I’m learning more about teaching and Spanish. Then there’s my writers’ group. I could probably make a book of stories about the different authors. You’d like reading some of their books. It would be a great way to find some you actually hadn’t read yet! Of course, I’d like to tell you about my own projects like how I’ve been tweaking that one last story I got to read to you and am also working on a new one. The new story involves pies…I guess that won’t surprise you. Then there are little things like how we repainted the bathroom. You might wonder about the combination of “watery” and “lei flower” paint, but, once you hear how it makes me think of the land of alohas and well-loved tales that take place there, you’ll laugh and decide it was a good – or at least ok – idea.

Speaking of laughing, I miss your clever ways of saying things. When you were alone, did you spend time just thinking up what to say to bring smiles to our faces? Some of your growing-up stories were pretty funny, too. You made life as one of seven kids in a pastor’s family sound pretty grand even with the hard times you faced. I’d like to hear those stories again and get to ask you more questions. There are things I never thought to ask you before that now I wish I knew.

It would be great to get your input on some of the decisions I’m working through. Like should we move to Norway and become reindeer ranchers or should we move to Ecuador and live in a house like Swiss Family Robinson? Ok, just kidding! The point is, our family tended to value your judgment on the big things, and I feel a little lost without it sometimes. I also miss asking you to pray for me, hearing you say you will and knowing I could count on it. Not that I don’t have other people who pray for me – it’s just not the same somehow…

That reminds me of something that came up at one of my writers’ meetings. In talking about our audiences, the thought popped up that generally young people today don’t have older mentors in their lives. I realized that that wasn’t true of me. How blessed I have been to have older people like you in my life. People with the time to listen, to laugh, to think and to pray. That’s definitely something to be thankful for, isn’t it?…

I guess that’s what happens when grief – and life – gets “Novembered”: we realize the things that really matter. With the extras blown away, we see, yes, what we’ve lost but also what we’ve been given and for what we can be truly thankful…even through the tears. 

A Life of Loves

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Getting older is like walking down a leaf-lined trail in the woods. Once you’ve gone a ways, you can look back and see where you’ve come from. At least some of the turns start to make sense and you can appreciate with new eyes the wonder of what lies around you. 

You can also start to notice themes throughout your journey. On a walk in the woods, it might be how maple leaves always catch your attention, the frequent scurrying of squirrel paws or the chirp of a certain bird. On the journey of life, it may be the things that have stuck with you through the years, the things that you’re drawn to, the things you love.

Take my Grandpa’s life for instance. After this Nebraska-born man joined the Navy in his teens, everything Navy has held a special place in his heart. First, the Navy itself, then lighthouses, now restoring and building model ships have kept the nautical lines strong in his life. They also extend into something else Grandpa loves.

“I would have thrown it away if you hadn’t taken it,” the jolly old blacksmith told Grandpa as they admired the five-foot, restored pond yacht. The boat had been the blacksmith’s childhood toy but needed some serious repair after being damaged in a tornado and neglected for years. After discovering how much Grandpa likes all things ship related, the blacksmith offered him the boat. Grandpa took on the project and went to work, scraping paint and repainting, studying historic information, crafting new parts, even tying the rat lines himself. After hundreds of hours of labor, the pond yacht was ready, and, oh, is she a beauty now. She represents one of the other things Grandpa loves: fixing things and giving them a new start on life. It makes me think of how God takes on the wreckage of our lives and makes us ready to sail again.

Yet another of Grandpa’s loves is making people laugh. He’s the one you can always count on to tell a joke. But he can tell it with such a straight face, you might take him seriously if you’re not on your toes!

Along with that, he also loves marshmallows and pecan pie and really has such a sweet tooth, we don’t know how he gets by. Maybe it’s because he’s disciplined in other areas of his life. Grandpa’s the one who walked miles in a frozen January when he needed to get in shape. That’s partly why he could walk himself out of the hospital a day after having a hip replacement! He’s also the one who is ready to leave to work ten minutes early. (I know because we used to work together.) All his life – from his job at the brickyard when he was sixteen through now – he’s been willing to put in a good day’s work and do things well. He’s also ready to learn new things (like with the ship models). We know he’ll never really retire until he simply can’t work anymore. You could say work is a love of his, too, though he might not admit it. I think this has been an example to the rest of his family.

But more than ships, lighthouses, repairing old things, jokes, marshmallows, and the satisfaction and pride of a job well done, Grandpa has another love: his family – his wife of 58 years, his children and his grandchildren, his brothers and sisters. Sure, our family isn’t perfect, and I think Grandpa would say he’d do some things differently if he could now, but when push comes to shove, we know Grandpa loves us. 

And that really counts for something because there’s a big difference between pouring time into boats and knots and work and pouring your life into people. All those other things are good and can be used in wonderful ways, but people are eternal. Someday Grandpa will leave those other loves – just like you leave the trees, the squirrels and the bird songs when you leave the woods – but those people he loves on can, by God’s grace, stick with him through eternity. How awesome is that?

I know I’m grateful for the “loves” of Grandpa’s life. They will be a part of the “Grandpa” stories my family will enjoy getting to share with his newest little love – his great-granddaughter.

Grand and great-granddaughter

Happy Birthday, Grandpa! I’m glad to say you are one of my “loves”.

 What about you? What are the “loves” of your life? Are your priorities where you want them to be? It’s not too late to change course and set sail for a different sea. 

 

The Unknown Author

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While authors craft their stories, they spend a lot of time with those who populate the pages, and good authors put effort into creating “real” characters. In fact, authors may begin to feel that they know their characters as if they were real!

But authors construct much more than characters. They have to think about time and transitions, location and looks. Tiny details can affect the story in big ways. With that in mind, I wonder sometimes…what would happen if an author could enter the world of his story as if it were the real world?

Let’s imagine it like this. You are the author of a fantastic tale. Suddenly, you find yourself swept into it. The world of your imagination has become ice-cream-sundae real!

At long last, you can talk with your characters face to face. Of course, you relish meeting them and exploring the land in which they live. How could it be otherwise? Eventually, though, you begin to notice something funny. You know all about these people, but they seem to know nothing about you. That wouldn’t be surprising if you were just some random person, but your fingerprints are clearly all over this place. When you venture to ask one of your favorite characters – the gluten-free girl who runs the caramel apple shop in town and has that darling dog –  if she knows how she came to be, she raises an eyebrow and responds, “Oh, I’ve always been here!”

No you haven’t, you think to yourself. It took me a lot of work to get you here!

You think many versions of those thoughts over the next few days because everyone responds the same way in this world of your imagination. Even the man who captains boat cruises during the day and catches criminals by night!

The same thing happens when you mention the beautiful landscapes – like how the hills dip at just the right places and the trees grow thick amidst the rocky terrain. “Oh, yes, it’s stunning!” a woman responds. “Isn’t it amazing that the glaciers made it that way? And, of course, we thank the bears for planting the vegetation!”

Glaciers! Well, yes, they did carve the terrain that way, but I was the one who planned that all out! And the bears? Sure they help, but, uh, they didn’t decide to plant oak trees there in the first place. Those came before the berries, you know. Maybe my people aren’t as smart as I thought!

After a while, you can’t take it anymore. “It wasn’t the glaciers or the bears or the river ways or the eons that gave you this place, it was me!”

Instead of a glimmer of recognition in their eyes, you see only stares that speak, “That’s impossible.”

————-

Ok, maybe that wasn’t the most fun version of jumping into your own book, but this idea has been tumbling around in my head. My question is: Are we – as characters in the story of life – ever like the characters in that imaginary story? Do we ever forget the One who is not only plotting each detail of our lives but is also the Master Artist behind the scenery that surrounds us – the sunrises, hills, trees, flowers, lakes, clouds, stars – and so much more?

Summer is a special time for enjoying this beauty and living new chapters of our adventures – at least in my book. As we wrap up this season and give it away to Autumn, I hope we take time to know and applaud our Author and Illustrator Jesus, “[f]or by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together,” (Colossians 1:16-17, ESV).

Trees and Lakes