Grandparents Day
Grandparents Day, also known as National Grandparents Day, is a holiday celebrated on the first Sunday after Labor Day. It is used to honor both maternal and paternal grandparents. While it’s primarily celebrated in the United States, other countries also have celebrations to honor their parents’ parents.
United States (Observance)Some countries celebrate this holiday on a different day than the American version. These include Australia, France, Germany, Canada, Estonia, Poland, South Sudan, and the United Kingdom.
History
This holiday was first created by Marian McQuade before 1973. However, it wasn’t recognized as a holiday on a state level until March 27th, 1973, when it became recognized by West Virginia. Thanks to President Jimmy Carter and Senators Robert Byrd and Jennings Randolph, who introduced official legislation into the Senate, it officially became a national holiday on August 3rd, 1978.
The statute making Grandparents Day a holiday lists three purposes for this holiday. These purposes are as follows:
- to commemorate and pay respect to grandparents,
- to recognize the importance that older people can have in the lives of the young, and
- to give grandparents the opportunity to show love and support for their children’s children.
Customs, Traditions, and Celebrations
This holiday is celebrated in various ways by different people. Some throw a party for their grandparents, commemorating their life and achievements. Others simply give their grandparents a gift or craft one for them. For some, the only recognition given to grandparents is to present them with a cake.
A tradition that was prominently featured when this holiday was created, but is beginning to fall by the wayside, is the presentation of the flower Forget-Me-Nots to one’s grandparents. It was particularly important to present this flower to grandparents living in nursing homes or to place them on their graves if they were deceased.
However, it can also be given to those who are still alive and living on their own or in their children’s home. Either way, it’s considered very important to honor the parents of your parents with some sort of recognition. After all, without them, you would not be here.
United States (Observance)
