The idea for this book came from the first moments we held our grandchildren and looked into their eyes. Our hearts were filled with love and our being bursting with pride and aspiration for the little bundle in our arms. It's a familiar feeling that all grandparents could relate to.
For the generation of grandparents who are not native-born to this country, who arrived as refugees, immigrants, or study abroad students who had no home to return to, we adopted and adapted and built new homes in this new land. At this stage in our life, we are generally grateful for all the blessings we received, and have come to appreciate all the ordeals we experienced as well. We struggled intrepidly in the early days, achieved eventually some stability in our life, shepherded finally our children into adulthood, and did what we could to contribute intentionally back to the society.
Having grandchildren is a unique experience that suddenly pivoted us to look back at the past as we envision them representing our future! The awareness that they will carry a part of us into the future makes us revisit our roots, our core values, our life journeys, where we had been, and who we have become. This book is designed to help grandparents embark on this retrospective journey so that the most significant and meaningful memories could be dug up, dusted and shined to share with our little ones.
It's a project of love that requires effort from the grandparents to remember, reflect, reconnect and record what they would like to pass on to their grandchildren so that someday they may pass on to theirs. As a popular saying goes, "If you don't know where you came from, you won't know where you're heading." Reconnecting with our past brings us peace and makes us whole. Knowing one's heritage, roots, cultural values and traditions will give our grandchildren the confidence to embrace their full potential and be proud of all the parts that contribute to their magnificent self!
In this Version 1.0, we envision grandparents purchasing the hardcopy books, taking time to compose, write, type/paste their reflections right onto the pages along with the photos from their albums or online. You can share the pages that you complete with your grandchildren as you continue to work on it, or you could wait until the whole book is completed. The pages with pictures and historical context and cultural information are additional teaching/sharing opportunities for grandparents to interact with their grandchildren. Encourage questions and further exp !oration from them.
We plan to have Version 2.0 with an online portal where grandparents would have access to work directly on a digital copy of the book. With this version, you will be able to add/delete pages and content to tailor your narratives. We welcome feedback and suggestions from you and wish you a pleasant journey down the memory lane as you complete and share th is book project with love.
