Grandchildren are the crowning glory of the aged parents are the pride of their children. (Proverbs 17:6 ESV) 

When we visited the Pirate Museum in Saint Augustine Florida, my wife spotted some gold doubloons in the gift shop which she snapped up immediately. Combined with sand from the beach in a cool looing container, her two-dollar purchase transformed into a treasure trove for grandchildren. Now I love taking long slow walks with our grandkids, and listening to them as they comment on caterpillars, sticks and leaves as we traipse around their neighborhood. But with a 1200-mile separation those walks are few and far between. Then I remembered the treasure trove I discovered in my dad’s top desk drawer after he had passed away. But instead of money or stock certificates it was the treasure of all the letters and cards I had ever sent my dad over the years. Some carried addresses which I scarcely remembered and others were newer and offered words of comfort at the passing of my stepmom. Christmases and birthdays, Father’s days and just “We miss you” letters, all silently telling of how precious they were, waiting for me to find them in a neat pile held together by a big rubber band.

So I decided to do something strange. I decided to write! Yes, I wrote real letters to each of our grandchildren and one by one I dropped them into the mailbox!

If you are contemplating starting a letter writing campaign, don’t get disappointed or discouraged if they don’t write back. Remember most children these days have never ever even seen a letter! But know this: whatever advice, funny stories or “I love you’s” we send, will be around even longer than we will. When we take the time to put things on paper, we are giving them something that they can keep forever. After all the a video calls, texts and emails are deleted, the ones on paper can still be read, even when we can no longer walk around their neighborhood, or when they are too old and busy to want to take the time.

Sometimes their Dads and Moms feel that the demands of parenting will never end, but we Grandparents know that it comes to an end all too quickly. Let’s build a treasure trove that will gleam in our grandchildren’s hearts forever. God bless all you Moms and Dads as you share your children with us. We only have them for a little while and we promise to give them back to you wrapped tightly in the love of a grandparent!

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 Peter Caligiuri has been writing since he was a teen-ager. Both short poems and devotionals have appeared in various periodicals such Secret Place, Breakthrough Intercessor and The Upper Room. Peter holds a Bachelor of Science in Secondary Education/English from Western Connecticut State College as well as having attended Elim Bible College. He is now retired and lives with his wife Nancy in New Port Richey, Florida where they are members of Generations Christian Church. Together they have two awesome sons, six lively grandsons and one very special granddaughter!

Article and Photo are published with permission.