Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with grandfather

Did she imagine this book?

BusyBusyBusy — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 15:44:18 -0800

[Obscure book filter] Anyone remember a book about a grandfather hired to make a notebook to teach someone's daughter about the world, but he secretly makes two copies? My sister remembers a book from her childhood. A grandfather is hired to make a notebook or book or computer (she can't remember) for a little girl to teach her about the world. He makes an extra copy to give to his granddaughter.

I know this is vague, but we've tried looking on Google and can't find anything. She insists it exists.

Any ideas?

Storytelling Grandfather - Author?

CarolynAMW — Wed, 27 May 2009 19:15:21 -0800

Can anyone identify a short story or teleplay with the following plot or some variant thereof: A grandfather frequently tells his grandchildren about his experiences in the Revolutionary War, pointing to a general's portrait hanging over his fireplace as he sits in his rocking chair. He has one favorite grandson, who grows tired of the grandfather's story. The grandson researches and finds that the general in the portrait is not so brave as the grandfather makes him out to be. During the next telling of the story, the grandson interrupts his grandfather and corrects him with the truth -- whereupon the grandfather takes down the portrait and never tells the story again. Years later, as an old man himself, the grandson is sitting in the same rocking chair, surrounded by his grandchildren, goes to tell the story, looks up to the blank space above the fireplace, is filled with a profound sense of loss/regret, and falls silent.

A friend in Israel said he thinks he once saw this on American television. I could only offer the similar story -- but with a very different moral -- in "The Four Feathers," where Harry Faversham "heroically" corrects the old general's embroidered account of the Battle of Balaclava. Hawthorne has a book of stories on a grandfather's chair, but nothing like this. I also tried Washington Irving and Benet -- no luck.

Birthday present ideas for grandfather

feathermeat — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 05:09:47 -0800

I am looking for birthday present ideas for a 95-year-old man whom I barely know. My 95-year-old grandfather's birthday is this week. For a variety of reasons, I don't really know the man, and I am at a loss as to what to get him. He is a moderately devout Catholic. He does not see very well. His hearing is a little better, but not great. That's about all I know. Any ideas?

Do you call your grandfather Bumpy?

23skidoo — Wed, 14 May 2008 10:10:08 -0800

How common is the title "Bumpy" for a grandfather? Like "Grampa Joe" or "Peepaw Frank"... do you say/understand the usage "Bumpy Jackson" for a grandfather? If so, where did you grow up? I've known a couple people in my time who called their grandfathers by the title Bumpy [lastname]... I assumed that it was Southern (or maybe Texan) and that it was uncommon, but not completely unheard of. A short office conversation now has me wondering if it's just some weird thing that a couple of the people I know have in common.

1. Do/did you call your grandfather Bumpy?
2. If so, where did you grow up?

Quality intergenerational time that transcends disabilities

moreandmoreso — Tue, 16 Oct 2007 20:26:57 -0800

What activities can I initiate with my substantially-deaf, substantially-blind grandfather? I am 23. A while ago I moved to the same metropolitan area as my grandparents. Grandpa's vision and hearing have been going downhill for a while, leading to his increasing frustration. Grandma is not experiencing such problems. Help me make the most of our quality time together, either just with Grandpa or with both. I could meet with them up to twice a month either alone or with other family members.

They are in their mid-80s and still live in their own lake-front house. They walk (slowly) for exercise every morning and manage to do most of the things they need to do around the house on their own. Active activities would generally be difficult.

The current pattern of activity is Grandma invites 3 of us over for dinner, we chat over dinner, and Grandpa misses most of the conversation. If you take care to speak loudly, slowly, and in his direction, he understands most of it.

General suggestions are welcome, but if you need something to get your imagination going... Grandpa was a chemist before he retired and is interested in science, ancient civilizations, Italy, fiction writing, classical guitar/jazz music and harassing squirrels. He taught me to play chess. Grandma reads the newspaper and crossword puzzles aloud to him every day.

Perhaps activities specifically geared to stimulate touch, taste or smell would be engaging?

NFL-related websites for 'grandad'?

woodblock100 — Mon, 10 Sep 2007 00:10:48 -0800

Any recommendations for NFL related websites that would be interesting for my computer-phobic 80-year-old father? My parents have had their iMac for a few years now, and basically, it's just my mother who uses it (Skype, Mail, watching YouTube links we kids send her, that kind of stuff). Dad is kind of intimidated by the whole thing, grumbles about the cost of the broadband, and just generally doesn't 'get it'.

Now that's no problem, and we're not trying to push him into it (much); it's just not worth the stress, either to him or us. But I found out from Mom this morning that he is recently nuts about the NFL. He's going to park himself in front of the TV for the next half-year or so, and drink it all in.

So I thought this might be a route to get him over his computer phobia - if there were websites that would help him feed his interest in football, but which were not too intimidating to browse. Ideally, something that he could participate in. Googling NFL just gets ridiculous ... so over to you ... any ideas/suggestions/recommendations?

I need gift ideas for my grandfather who is turning 80.

disaster77 — Thu, 22 Mar 2007 10:31:26 -0800

I need gift ideas for my grandfather who is turning 80. We're having a party for my grandfather this weekend and I need to get him a gift. He is turning 80 years old. I don't have any ideas so far. Here is some background info:
- he's a widower who lives alone
- he had a stroke and is not very mobile these days, but he still drives
- he's taking a trip to Jamaica next month because he "always wanted to go there"
- we're not particularly close so I don't know much about his interests

I'd like to keep the gift in the $20-30 range. Thank you for your suggestions.

What duty do I have to my grandfather (or, more generally, to my extended family)?

Anonymous — Tue, 21 Nov 2006 13:40:59 -0800

FamilyEthicsFilter: What duty do I have to my grandfather (or, more generally, to my extended family)? My maternal grandfather has always been nice to me. As a kid, I'd see him once or twice a year and I always loved it. But since I graduated high school (I'm 25 now), I've gradually grown away from him. There was no incident to speak of, but I find that I don't really like him.

I don't want to go into a detailed list of reasons why I don't like this man, so I'll try to keep this brief. He plays my mother and one of her sisters off of one another emotionally. Another sister had been estranged from him for years until just recently (he met his grandkids from this daughter when they were 12 and 14 years old). I've heard whispers that he physically abused my mom and her sisters as children, but never anything definitive. My mom still loves him and has a good relationship with him overall. And he's never been abusive to me at all. He's been a little passive-aggressive with me, but nothing serious (example: he recently asked my mom to ask me to call him recently to talk--but I know for a fact that he has my email and phone number, so I think he's using my mom to guilt me into it).

But all that is really just justification--the reality is that I just don't enjoy being in his company. He talks about himself incessantly and I feel like I'm just his audience. This was fine when I was younger and thought he knew everything--I was in awe of him--but now that I realize he's done some astoundingly stupid things (both personally and professionally), I can't really take him seriously.

He's coming to town for Thanksgiving and I'm not looking forward to spending time with him. And I probably won't have to spend much time in any case, but I feel guilty about the way I feel. My relationship with my parents is great and I enjoy spending time with them. Same with my younger brother.

To a lesser extent, I feel the same way about the rest of my extended family. I don't feel any sort of bond with them, and I don't want to form one. The people I'm thinking of all happen to come from my mother's side of the family--my dad's only family are a couple siblings that live out of state and call or visit infrequently. I actually kind of like them, but I'm happy to maintain the status quo.

Is it wrong to limit my family activity to just my immediate family? Do I have any obligations to my grandfather or other extended family? Emotionally or otherwise? I feel like I certainly do have an emotional obligation to my parents and brother, in addition to an obligation to support them as much as I can if they fell on difficult times.

Accessibility in an iPod?

allan — Wed, 15 Nov 2006 08:11:54 -0800

An MP3 player for my grandfather: is there something with large buttons and an easy to read screen? My grandfather (89) has been spending time in hospitals and doctors offices, and I want to get him set up with some audiobooks. The problem is that his vision is quite poor (he uses a magnifying glass most of the time) and I doubt he can handle the standard ipod wheel.

Fortunately, he is not completely averse to technology--he likes his mac. I want to load something up with audiobooks, teach him how to navigate and send him off.

What's got easy to use, large buttons and an easy-to-read screen? Physically, bigger is better. A large flash or small hard drive should suffice.

Gift for my grandfather's 80th birthday

Sheppagus — Thu, 14 Jul 2005 12:58:19 -0800

Gift-Filter: Please help me find a birthday present for my grandfather who hates everything. My grandfather turns 80 this week and I have no idea what to get him. His health is poor, so travel is out of the question. His vision is poor and he has no interest in most electronics.

He recently was hospitalized and since getting out, he has lost interest in virtually everything.

About a year ago he "discovered" CDs and has gotten a variety of music related gifts, but since getting out of the hospital he shows no interest in this.

He has outlived most of his friends, so I worry that some sort of memory book or video would be a reminder of those who aren't there.

He isn't currently living at home and there is some question of whether he will be able to go home again. This pretty much rules out any cool house toys.

A visit from me isn't an option right now.

I have no ideas at this point, and would appreciate any good suggestions.