What did your Grandparents Do?

[LS Tractor Owner]

Paternal grandparents had a butcher shop and local corner grocery store. My grandfather passed when I was only 3 y/o. My grandmother continued running the store and butcher shop for another 30 years, right up until she was 92. She died at 93.

I have no clue whatsoever about my maternal grandparents other than my maternal grandmother was a "floosey" or so i'm told.

 

[RobertN]

On Dad's side, a poultry rancher and nurse. On Mom's side, a carpenter and homemaker.

 

[ultrarunner]

^^^^^
Maybe that's the case in Canada. Down here it's how many kids can you father without being held responsible for any of them.

I'm a little jaded having managed Low Income property for years... a typical family will have a single head of household and all the kids have different fathers... with none really in the picture... I think how much these kids are missing but maybe they are better off?

My Dad never met any of his Grandchildren which is a shame because he was really looking forward to being a Grandfather and knew number one was on her way...

She is 17 now and speaks as if she had known him... when she was a very small child sometimes she would be having a full conversation and when asked who are you talking to she would say Grandpa... none of the others have that connection but the oldest sure does... she also is the one that always remembers him on special occasions/holidays...

In the months before he passed fighting terminal cancer he wrote a note to her and told me that if we were ever out and should get an Ice Cream I should say it is from Grandpa...

 

[MossRoad]

I do think a lot of my Grandfather... I was 12 when he passed... even decades later I still run into people and ask if I am related... says something about character when you leave a positive legacy.

He would always answer any question I had and we talked about cars all the time... he was in the car business selling Model T's... He made one trip to visit his extended family and very much wanted me to come and I very much wanted to go... Grandma and my folks said next time as I was a little too young...

That was a missed opportunity for sure... because I would have soaked up every bit of family history on Dad's side...

One common thread I found is men tended to marry much later age wise than women... at least from those I have researched... Grandmother was 18 and Grandfather 28... he said a man couldn't think about settling down until he had proven he could be provider... times sure are different today!

For kids the farm side was always fun... and so very different than growing up in the city... still remember being fascinated by Grandmother's Wedgewood stove... she cooked with wood just about every day...

My dad's dad was born in 1888. Dad in 1919. Me not until 1961. And my youngest not until 1997. So grandpa fathered a child at 31. Dad at 42, and me at 36. So 109 years for just 3 generations. I know many folks that are grandparents in their 40's. I know someone my age that's a great grandpa. Yikes! :laughing:

Anyhow, there's no right or wrong way to do it. There's no book on it, just experiences people can pass on to you or observations you can make yourself. Personally, I think the best advice I got was from a priest my freshman year in high school. He said meet a nice girl. Both of you go to school. Both of you get jobs and careers. Get married. Enjoy each other for a while and decide if you want children before you make children. (That was very controversial advice for a Catholic priest to give back then).... then he said something very odd, but it stuck with me to this day. He said "If you don't do that, you'll end up like my brother and never have a clean t-shirt the rest of your life."

For some reason, at that instance, I pictured in my mind, some poor slob wearing a filthy torn stained t-shirt sitting in a beat up lazy boy drinking warm beer while a bunch of filthy kids ran around him while his wife hollered at him from the kitchen. YIKES!

I got what he was saying. Man I got it. :laughing:

 

[Ortimber]

Dad’s father was a lifelong machinist and his career spanned from the 1930’s-1970’s. He worked in defense plants during WW2 and later opened his own shop and made a lot of parts for the space program. Grandma was a homemaker.

Mom’s dad was a civil engineer and worked on many infrastructure programs including dams.
He served in the Navy during WW2. Grandma is still alive (92) and is sharp as a tack. She was also a homemaker.

 

[ultrarunner]

I know several young grandmothers... the youngest was a tenant and grandmother at age 31... wish I could say it was unusual but quite a few 30 something grandmothers.

A lot of the young nurses we hire have a plan... they have a steady... often from high school... they both go to school, get a career, get hired as an RN and about 12 to 18 months later marry... kids about 2 to 3 years after that... quite a contrast...

Not to get too far off topic... the funeral for my 85 year old friend was very poignant... his mother got up and spoke at the service... you could hear a pin drop.... They were a small Mormon pioneer Nevada family... her husband died when my friend started high school so for years it was just the two of them... no other children, cousins, etc. on his side.

To hear a 102 year old mother eulogize her only child is something I will never forget...

 

[two_bit_score]

Maternal grandfather worked the oil fields in West Texas as a young man, then settled down and ran the water department in Odessa for years, he retired from there. My grandmother always had a very nice garden and sold vegetables. After grandpa died she bought and sold real estate.

Paternal grandfather was a farmer. My grandmother’s father had obtained a headright grant from the Republic of Texas. They farmed a portion of that land. He also sharpened knives, axes, chisels, anything with a cutting edge. He was known for being able to put a sharp edge that would stay sharp on knives and tools.



TBS

 

[ruffdog]

Oh, how the careers have changed. :confused2:

 

[ultrarunner]

Mom growing up on the farm was expected to marry a farmer and had plenty of suitors...

The only career for women if you had a calling outside religious would be teacher, seamstress or cook...

Mom was three days in the hospital and from that moment decided to be a nurse... it did not set well with family and even the priest... they were afraid if she were to become a RN it would mean leaving... well, they were right... she left all the way to California when a job opportunity came up...

She was the first girl in the family to have a career and it was known throughout the farming community... we kids like to explore and would travel far on foot... seemed everyone we met knew about Mom as the "One" that went away to California.

 

[two_bit_score]

Im from a long line of farmers. My moms dad was one of the boys who was a real `Warhorse` lad. In the 14-18 war they wanted farmers to look after the horses. ``You`ll be home for Christmas`` they said.

That is very interesting considering that there is a recent thread on TBN discussing the movie “They Shall Not Grow Old”. It’s a documentary in the voice of the English soldiers in WWI. Fantastic movie. The importance of horses was very prominent in the film.