About 1 billion people in the world today are grandparents. Because humans are living longer, we are spending more time in the grandparenting role compared to past generations. As a result, more and more people are embracing the silver age of wisdom and the perks that come with it.
So as a tribute to all those perfectly fluffy apple pies only grandmas know how to make, and to these seriously useful handy skills you can only thank your grandpa for, Bored Panda has compiled this joyful list of wholesome grandparents.
From grandparents meeting their newborn grandchild for the first time and crying their eyes out from happiness, to grandma knitting a rainbow sweater after her granddaughter came out as bi, this is the grandlove we all deserve in life.
#1 Best Grandma
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#2 My 90-Year Old Grandma Mailed A Homemade Vest For Me To “Wear To Parties”. It’s Amazing
Image credits: reddit.com
#3 Grandfather With Vitiligo Crochets Dolls To Make Children With This Condition Feel Better
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For the first time in history, there are more elderly people in the world than young children, according to the United Nations. Their figures reveal that the number of over-65s surpassed that of under-fives at the end of 2018. There are now around 705 million people over 65 on the planet, while those aged 0-4 number about 680 million.
Paradoxically, even though more people than ever are turning into grandparents, aging is still largely considered taboo in Western society. The anti-aging market is soaring with P&S Intelligence calculating its revenue will be worth $421.4 Billion by 2030. Numbers are staggering, but they reveal so much more than that. What if the fear of getting old is so widespread it has become a sort of fuel for the consumer market of our century?
#4 This Grandpa Seems To Be Really Cool
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#5 After Not Seeing My Grandparents For Months, They Finally Figured Out How “To Work Facetime.” This Was My Grandpa’s Face When He Saw Me
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#6 Don’t Be Mean
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To find out more about why our society is so obsessed with youth, and what implications it has on ourselves, Bored Panda reached out to Meg Selig, a counselor, writer and book author who recently released a book “Silver Sparks: Thoughts on Growing Older, Wiser, and Happier.”
“The fear of getting old is so common that it even has its own acronym—FOGO, the Fear of Getting Old,” Meg said and continued: “A survey of Americans by the drug company Pfizer found that 87% of people have at least one fear about getting old. (I was surprised to find that 13% of people don’t have any anxiety about getting old.) 23% of Americans worry about decline in their physical ability, 15% worry about memory loss, 12% fear running out of money, and 12% are concerned about chronic illness. Only 10% of those surveyed say they fear dying.”
#7 Grandpa Pushed Grandma Out Of The Way Before Getting Run Over By Some Moron In A Van
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#8 Sweet Grandma
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#9 Dedication Level – Love
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However, Meg also shared some reassuring information which is that “Worldwide surveys consistently show that the stereotypes of grumpy, unhappy, or decrepit older people are false.” She also added that numerous surveys and studies reveal that in fact, older people are happier people, despite the challenges that aging brings.
“One of my goals in writing my book on healthy aging, Silver Sparks: Thoughts on Growing Older, Wiser, and Happier, was to ease fears that younger people may have about aging,” she said and added that: “For the record, I am an incredibly happy older person at age 76—happier, in fact, than I have ever been. And most older people are healthy, too. Only 1-2% of ‘olders’ over 65 live in nursing homes.”
#10 My Nana Knitted A Blanket For A Baby Elephant Called Khanyisa In South Africa, It Arrived Yesterday From The UK After 4 Months And She Is So Happy
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#11 My Grandfather Built A Floating Dock For Turtles In The Lake By Their House, And The Turtles Love It
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#12 Grandpa Makes An Amazing Cradle For His Grandson
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The book author believes that no one of any age ought to let their age define who they are. “At the same time, I do think there are unique qualities about being older. Some of those qualities: the desire to leave a legacy; an emphasis on personal growth; the willingness to mentor and nurture the ‘youngers’; the ability to appreciate the small moments of pleasure that life provides,” she explained.
“A few more words about pleasure: In Okinawa, Japan, people live longer than anywhere else in the world. They have cultivated the ability to find joy in the small things and have even given this ability a name—ikigai.” It turns out that researchers believe it is “ikigai” that accounts for the Okinawans’ longevity.
#13 Heartwarming
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#14 Every Hat
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#15 Super Cool Grandmother
Image credits: BobbyDukeArts
When asked how aging affects or doesn’t affect our personalities, Meg said that there is one factor that can affect a person’s satisfaction with aging, their daily happiness, and their longevity. “That factor is whether a person has a purpose in life. That purpose can be a so-called ‘higher purpose’ like helping others, volunteering, writing, creating a work of art, or contributing to the welfare of one’s family or community.”
The purpose can also be just enjoying the moment and having fun. “A former colleague said after he retired, ‘If it isn’t fun, I don’t do it.’ That was his purpose. It doesn’t matter what your purpose is as long as it gives you something to look forward to when you get up in the morning,” the author explained.
#16 93 Year Old Grandma And Her Grandson Recreating Up
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#17 Way To Go
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#18 My Grandma Hand Drew All Her Wrapping Paper
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Meg also said that her work purpose is sharing information on healthy aging, happiness, and habits. “I do this through my ‘Changepower’ blog at psychologytoday.com, my books, and social media. Thanks to this mission, my personality has changed,” she revealed and added that “I am more confident, more focused, and a better communicator than when I was younger.”
Meg concluded that “personality changes are linked with your own decisions about how you want to spend your ‘bonus years’ of life. There’s no one right answer—just the answer that works best for you.”
#19 The First Selfie My Grandpa Took With His New Phone
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#20 Grandpa Joins Local Woodworking Group
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#21 This Is The Last Note My Grandfather Left My Grandma Before He Died. He Attached It To His Will Because He Knew That’d The Only Time She Would Find It
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#22 100 Years Apart. My Grandfather On His 103rd Birthday With My 3-Year-Old Daughter. This Picture Is Priceless To Me
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#23 Baby Yoda And Granny
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#24 My Grandma Wanted To See The Ocean One Last Time Before Checking Into Hospice. Her Face Says It All
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#25 Hero Grandma
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#26 Professional Portrait
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#27 I Told My Grandma I Was Bisexual A Few Weeks Ago And Today She Gave Me This
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#28 My Oma (Grandmother) Made Me This Quilt For My Graduation. She Thought The Rainbows Would Be Good Because I’m Gay. My Grandparents Are New To This Whole Gay Thing But They Are Doing Their Best
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#29 My Grandma, 96, With My Grandpa, 100, Hours Before Her Death This Weekend. 77 Years Of Marriage
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#30 My Great-Grandma, Who Will Be 103 On Valentine’s Day, Laughing With My 2-Month-Old Daughter
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#31 My Grandpa’s Cat Passed Away Early December. He Was Crushed And Didn’t Want To Insensitively Replace Her, But He Was So Lonely
He let my mom help him find a new kitten after a couple weeks. This is the picture she sent me.
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#32 A Grandpa Got A Cochlea Implant Tattoo To Become Like His Grandson
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#33 My 84-Year-Old Grandmother Apologized For Having To Wear Her Nightgown In Front Of Us
I said it was no problem and that it actually looked very comfortable, so she immediately offered one to me. It’s not like I could have rejected this generous gift…
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#34 My Cat Ripped Open His Favorite Toy. This Is My Grandma Sewing It Back Together
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#35 My Grandma Can’t Protest On The Streets, But She Still Wants To Show Her Solidarity And Support
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#36 My Dog Gets Really Anxious In The Car, So My Grandma Asked To Sit In The Back With Him. The Whole Car Ride All I Heard Was “It’s Okay, We’re Almost There Brave Boy”
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#37 Wholesome Grandpa
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#38 My Grandma Watering Me So I Would Grow (1991). Next Month She’ll Be 98
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#39 Reunited With Grandpa After 15 Years
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#40 Today My 3 Year Old Son And His 89 Year Old Great Grandma Teamed Up To Catch Both Their First Fish. He Hooked It She Reeled It In
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#41 Lunch With Grandpa
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#42 Grandma Goals
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#43 She Drew A Picture Of Her Dream Dress, And Her Grandma Made It For Her
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#44 When We Moved My Grandma Bought A Towel For When I’d Come. 12 Years Later, She Still Hangs The Same Duck Towel For Me When I Arrive
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#45 Every Year My 90-Year-Old Grandma Crochets Hats For Kids In Need. This Year One Of Her Assigned Teens Wrote That They Were Bi In The “About You” Section
She asked me what it meant and I explained. On her own, she researched and made a hat that includes both the flag & the girl’s favorite color, green.
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#46 My Grandma Ringing The Bell After Officially Winning Her Battle With Breast Cancer Today
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#47 Went Out Fishing With My Grandpa This Evening And There Was This One Kid Who Had Some Sort Of Mental Handicap
About halfway through our fishing, his rod broke and there were several knots in his line. Not only did my grandpa completely fix his rod he untied the knots. Never been more proud of him.
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#48 My Dad Meeting My Son For The First Time Yesterday. I’ve Never Seen My Dad So Happy. Feels Real Good, Man
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#49 Talent
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#50 I Will More Than Likely Lose My Grandma Tonight, But I Will Forever Cherish This Photo Of My Grandparents. Almost To 53 Years Married
Image credits: DwarfWarrior17