Article Link: http://stage.exchangepress.com/article/wonder-newsletter--january-february-2012/5020383/
Welcoming the Next Generationby Jim Wike
I’m traveling to visit my daughter. She is expecting her first child, a daughter, and my first grandchild. Her name will be Allison. Such a lovely name and I already glow when I hear it. I’m going to be a grandparent!
While getting the number of grandparents worldwide seems elusive, one indicator is that the number of people 65 or older worldwide was 500 million in 2006 and by the year 2030 is anticipated to exceed 1 billion. The number of grandparents in the United States is estimated at 70 million.
My generation grew up in pretty easy times and in an easy place by global standards. No famine, plague, depression, or war to compare to those of the recent past. A little unrest, some uneasy moments, true, but nothing like my parents, grandparents, or great-grandparents endured.
Some quick comparisons may be interesting. The first house I purchased, a modest starter, had three bedrooms, two full baths, and central air conditioning. All things my parents strived for, conveniences my grandparents would have envied, and probably not imagined by my great-grandparents. Almost immediately we were a two-car family. There was more time away from the house than in ...