Seniors: Honoring grandparents

Her name is Annabel Rose, and she is Mike and Susan Laspia’s first grandchild.

This blonde, blue-eyed, 13-month-old is the first child of their middle daughter Novella Laspia Yeaman and her blonde, blue-eyed husband, Paul Yeaman.

The Yeamans live on Smith Street, about a quarter of a mile from the entrance to Mashomack Preserve off South Ferry Road. Mike, as you know, is the preserve  director; Susan, its operations manager.

Grandpa Mike stops by every day to visit his “little punkin,” and Grandma Susan has been able to adjust her schedule at the preserve so that she can baby sit on Wednesday afternoons. Paul has family ties in Australia, and both Mike and Susan dread the possibility that the Yeamans could move “down under.”

Mike, naturally, looks forward to teaching Annabel Rose to enjoy the outdoors — to know and love the birds, to recognize the trees and flowers and, of course, the invasives. His mantra, which I intone every time I think of my own granddaughter, “No child left indoors,” has been an inspiration for me.

While Susan’s expectations may seem simpler than Mike’s, they are, I think, more challenging. “I want to teach her to enjoy life,” says Susan.

Susan summed up their mutual feelings with this sentiment. “Annabel Rose has added a new dimension to our lives. How much fun to watch her learn and grow!”

As the nation celebrates National Grandparents’ Day, I give you joy of your Annabel Rose, dear Mike and Susan.

On August 3, 1978, President Jimmy Carter signed a proclamation naming the first Sunday after Labor Day as National Grandparents’ Day. Congress passed the enabling legislation later that month. The purpose of the day, according to the proclamation, is “to honor grandparents, to give grandparents an opportunity to show love for their children’s children and to help children become aware of the strength, information and guidance older people can offer.”