Grand Magazine - July/August 2008 - (Page 20)

grand central Celebrity news Who’s WatChing the kids? If Barack Obama’s campaign for president is successful, one important contributing factor won’t be tied to superdelegates or his stand on the issues. It will be because his daughters, Malia (9) and Sasha (6), have a loving grandmother, Marian Robinson, who has pitched in to care for them while their parents are out on the campaign trail. Michelle Obama told voters in Chillicothe, Ohio, that she couldn’t campaign without her mother’s help. “I am standing here breathing in and out with any level of calm because my 70-year-old mother is home with my girls. There is nothing like grandma.” dad and granddad all in the same Week There’s nothing arrested about Jeffrey Tambor’s development. The actor who played the patriarch in the TV series Arrested Development was blessed within a period of four days with a new son and a new grandson. Tambor and his wife, Kasha, first had little Gabriel Kasper. Then Tambor’s daughter, Molly, presented him with a grandson, Mason Jay Moore. guess Who’s Coming… into the World? Proud grand and great-grand Sidney Poitier was inspired to write his latest book, Life Beyond Measure: Letters to My GreatGranddaughter, after his first >> grands give back When sally Vyvyan retired, she didn’t retire her love of children; instead, she began to volunteer 25 hours a week as part of the Foster Grandparent program, helping the 320 students at Westby (Wisconsin) Elementary School. “Grandma Sally,” as the children call her, tutors reading, provides support for classroom teachers and gives hugs. No one can have too many grandchildren; every child’s life is enriched by the wisdom, perspective and love grands have to offer. Want to touch the lives of children in your community? Check out your state’s Foster Grandparent Program at www.seniorcorps.gov. —Leah McCall a couple of years ago, grandmother sylvia king said “yes” to charitable nonprofit Common Hope when it gave her the opportunity to donate $30 a month to each of five children in Guatemala so they could attend school (Guatemala has no free public education). Sylvia wrote her checks and went on about her life in Walnut Creek, California. And then, Monica, the oldest of the students Sylvia was helping, wrote a letter and invited Sylvia to attend her high school graduation. “It was one thing to know, intellectually, that I was doing a good thing by enabling children to get an education,” Sylvia writes. “It’s clean. It’s simple. It feels good. But when I came face-toface with the people I was helping, it became the most humbling experience of my life. “Tears streaming down her face, Monica’s mother explained to me how she had feared for her daughter’s future from the time Monica was born. Without a high school diploma—which less than 25 percent of Guatemala’s children receive—there is next to no way out of the cycle of poverty. “As a thank-you, Monica’s family asked me to be the person to slip Monica’s shiny new high school ring on her finger. “The life-changing gift I received has been a deeper commitment to the children of Guatemala and their families. It wasn’t until after I got home that I fully realized that the transformative power worked both ways.” —Louise Lundgren Britan, CA Emilio, CA Morgan, NY Lauren & Mary, OR Imani, CA Anya, FL 20 GRAND JULY AUGUST 2008 http://www.seniorcorps.gov

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Grand Magazine - July/August 2008

Grand Magazine - July/August 2008 Contents Grand View: Love Is All That's Left Isn't It Grand?: Reassessing the Postponed Life Grand Central Just So We Know: One Mixed-Up Lemon Long-Distance Love: Cuttings Ask Grand: Stuck on Stuff Grand Gestures: "Thanks for the Ugly Gift" Tips on Teens: All That Doesn't Meet the Eye Live Long and Propser On the Cover: Peter Yarrow Presents of Mine Thicker Than Water? Reunions: White Water, White Knuckles The Grand Gourmet So We Are Not Alone Looking Grand: Suit-Able Grandbloggers: Why Watch TV When We Can Talk? Grand Bazaar Resources Grand Finale: What Boat

Grand Magazine - July/August 2008

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