GRAND Magazine - January 2009 - (Page 13)

“[Eminem is] like my grandmother. He’s someone that provided an opportunity for me to take care of myself when I couldn’t take care of myself. My grandma did it when I was a child, and then Em provided the opportunity for me as an adult.” —The rapper known as 50 Cent Bragging rights Marion McDowell, of Buena Vista Township, New Jersey, raised her two grandchildren, John and Jessica Gandy, after their mother “left them” when they were teenagers, according to the story in the (New Jersey) Daily Journal. Fourteen years later, Jessica Gandy, 27, is a Navy lieutenant who was serving in Afghanistan when offered a position at the Pentagon that will include serving as a White House social aide for Presidentelect Obama and the future first In November, Lt. Gandy cheers up an Afghani girl with a stuffed lady, Michelle. At the Pentagon, kangaroo in the Indira Gandhi Children’s Hospital Burn Ward in Gandy will also serve as deputy Kabul, Afghanistan. (Photo: U.S. Navy, by Spec. Petty Officer 1st Class Monica R. Nelson). public affairs officer for the Chief of Naval Operations. “I always wanted to show her that everything you do in life, you earn it,” grandmother McDowell told the reporter, Juliet Fletcher. “My grandmother has always been a woman ahead of her time,” said Gandy, “stressing the importance of education.” McDowell also instilled a sense of public service in her granddaughter—“I didn’t [go] to Afghanistan to sit on my butt”: Gandy launched the Volunteer Community Relations and Resources to provide programs to refugee camps, hospitals, schools and orphanages; in seven months $1.2 million in donations from troops and people representing 24 nations had been distributed. Her number-one volunteer? Marion McDowell. “The folks at the South Vineland Post Office see me coming,” she says, and even though Jessica’s job has changed, “I still send packages of aid.” Crisp piCks: Editor’s ChoiCE Pat Moore, of Hillsborough, North Carolina, continued raising saddlebred horses on her farm even after the death of her husband, Jim. As reported in the local Herald-Sun, Moore “had no idea she was also nurturing her granddaughter’s love of riding.” Last November, her granddaughter, Sarah Sessoms, 17, won Grand Champion (17-and-under division) at the World’s Championship Horse Show in Kentucky. Sessoms told reporters about the day she received one of her prized possessions. It decorates the hallway outside her bedroom. It is not a World’s Grand Championship trophy or a first-place medal. It is a photograph. “My grandmother gave me a picture of my grandfather riding a saddlebred horse,” Sessoms says. “She told me how proud of me he would be.” FAO Schwartz, watch your back: We’re not the first to say Kidding Around (www. kiddingaroundnyc.com), in Manhattan and in Montclair, New Jersey, is the best toy store ever, but here’s an added boost from our art director, Simone Tieber, who’s mom to a 7-yearold: “I spent an hour in the New York store, looking at everything. Almost nothing is made out of cheap plastic, no cartoon characters (e.g., Dora), nothing that’s on TV. Very refreshing. Most toys are from small vendors. It’s a real neighborhood store. The craft section had really cool girly stuff. I bought Anya the Clothespin Cuties book on how to make fairies ($9.95; www.klutz.com) and Christmas gifts for friends’ kids: butterfly tattoos, spinning tops, fake bugs, and a gag digital camera that shoots water.” Amelia, FL Max, Cooper and Ava, OH Michael Jr., NY Nathan, OK Nevin, ND Rachel and Isaac, KY JANUARY 2009 GRAND 13 http://www.kiddingaroundnyc.com http://www.kiddingaroundnyc.com http://www.klutz.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of GRAND Magazine - January 2009

GRAND�Magazine - January 2009 Grand View Contents Isn't it Grand? Grand Central Tips on Teens Grand Gestures Toddler Town Help! My Grandson's Being Raised Vegan! Cover Story: Casualties Leader of the Pack Reunions Together Time Resources Grand Finale

GRAND Magazine - January 2009

For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.