Grandparents deserve more credit for passing down green thumbs
Sunday, Sept. 11, is Grandparents Day. It is a day to show our appreciation for our parents' parents. In the hierarchy of parental tribute days, unfortunately, I feel like this is the least recognized. This seems kind of out of line to me. The grandparents deserve the credit for creating and raising the parents.
For better or worse, there are traditions in our families that are lost through the passing of generations. In my opinion, this is mostly for the worse. Younger generations are encouraged to find new ways to do things. At the same time, some caution should be exercised when it comes to traditions. Respecting traditions is also respecting the people who created them. Most of the time, this is your grandparents. Sometimes it is your grandparents’ parents.
I have always held the opinion that a love of gardening is something that is inherited from family. When kids grow up in a home gardening with Mom and Dad, they will do the same when they become parents. When kids grow up in a house surrounded by flowers in the spring, summer and fall, they will want the same when they have a house and family of their own. If you grow up with fresh vegetables in the backyard, you will note these, too.
Every generation has the desire and an obligation to make life just a little bit easier for the next generation. This has certainly happened with gardening. There were times when people had to grow their own food to survive. I am not referring to pioneer times. This was a necessity during the Great Depression. Victory gardens were also everywhere during the world wars. These too were a necessity to have food on the table as food was rationed.
After the Depression and when the wars ended, we entered prosperous times. This is when gardening evolved from a necessity to a hobby. Whether gardening is considered a necessity or a hobby, the common reward is the pride we all receive when we are successful, this sense of pride can always be traced back to our grandparents.
We can also thank our grandparents for the healthy competition gardeners have within their neighborhoods. During more relaxing times when almost everyone enjoyed staying home, gardening is how time was occupied. Every yard in the neighborhood was well groomed with colorful landscapes. Everyone shared their experience and knowledge with each other.
This does not happen as much these days. Unfortunately, not all families are as close as they were. The reasons for that are meant for conversations in other places. I would like to say that the close traditional families all have a great appreciation for the generations that proceeded themselves. When we speak of memories, many of those memories live in gardens.
I lived my life deprived of grandparents. Two had passed before I was born. One was gone shortly after I was born. The sole survivor, Grandma Ginny made it through 24 years of my life. To be honest, she wasn’t much of a gardener. She did like having a nice yard, She was lucky because she had a son who liked working in the yard, his name was Denny.
Most people are going to go through the day today not even knowing it is Grandparents Day. You will not because you are almost done reading this article. This should be a reminder to you. If you still have your grandparents, you are very lucky. I hope you can reach out to them today. Thank them for your love of gardening and all of the other traditions they have given you.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: On Grandparents Day 2022, celebrate your relatives' green thumbs
