Humanity's secret superpower: grandparents

Anthropologists (you know, those really smart scientists who study ancient humans) tell us that something extraordinary happened to the human race sometime maybe around 30,000 years ago.

It was at this time that many in our species - Homo sapiens - suddenly began to live exponentially longer than before. We can apparently tell this very readily by the fossil record from that time.

Prior to this time, people so very rarely made it into “old age”. Likely they were often eaten by some bigger, stronger mammal roaming around. Or perhaps they succumbed to the countless bacterial infections that surely resulted from the scrapes of common everyday accidents. The thing was - our ancient ancestors rarely lived long lives until about this time in prehistory.

Then suddenly - for whatever reason or reasons, many more began to do so. No longer were our direct ancestors virtually certain to be gone from the family by the tender age of thirty.

Grandparents had burst upon the scene.

Along with the advent of grandparents came perhaps one of the greatest leaps in human learning ever. Our ancestors could now verbally pass on priceless information and wisdom provided by those among us who were both older and wiser; the type of wisdom that could only be gained in one way - from having lived such long lives.

Imagine how thrilling it must have been to look forward to Papaw and Nana telling stories around a crackling campfire each night. (And I hope you don’t even have to imagine, my friends, because it’s just as thrilling today!)

The survival of the entire tribe often likely depended on the wisdom of grandparents; where to find the best watering holes, the best methods to avoid hungry predators, which plants best cured which illnesses and wounds, and - perhaps most importantly - how to resolve heated disputes with others in a peaceable manner (we sapiens have always been a species bent toward violence as a problem-solver, a tendency which has obviously not been greatly assuaged by time).

Perhaps not much has changed since those days in many ways, even in our increasingly high-tech world of virtual realities. We still need the reality of wisdom, best told in stories of “old times” passed down - and best told by the only ones who have actually lived it; the aged among us.

Modern assisted living facilities can be wonderful places to live near the end of one’s life. Oakmont at Gordon Park in Bristol is one such place. I know how good it is because my daughter and granddaughter both help run the place, and I have visited elderly friends there several times.

The down side is … such facilities (including nursing homes) can also be convenient places to “stash away” the elderly because they are no longer considered as “meaningful” as they once were. The line to cross can be very difficult to clearly see. The adult children and family are often left with an agonizing decision that only they can make. As long as such a decision is done in love, it can be a good thing. That - and remember to visit! So many, once they enter such places, are too rarely visited by family. I don’t mind dying when I’m old, but I don’t want to die of loneliness. I have seen loneliness kill some of my older friends, and it is a dreadful thing to behold.

When I think about the best families I have known, grandparents have almost always had a meaningful role in raising the grandchildren. Indeed, grandparents are living libraries of wisdom and knowledge on how to raise (and how not to raise) children - either by word or by example.

Younger parents who read these words will no doubt remember how many “mistakes” your own parents (who are now grandparents) made while raising you. Therefore, you may be reluctant to let them help with the children, at times. But be mindful not to fall so easily for such thinking. Love somehow got you through it all when you were a child … as love will now, too.

Utilizing and welcoming the grandparents among us into our lives has very few realisitic drawbacks - and countless potential benefits. We only become a better, greater, smarter … and much more “human” … society whenever we do.

So instead of treating grandparents as things you “have to care for” when they get old … treat them, instead, for what they’ve always always been to humanity - invaluable treasures beyond measure.