Five generations

As my parents were much older than most when they met, (49 and 43), married and had me, an only child, it meant that I only had one grandparent, my beloved Nanna, when I was growing up, sadly she died when I was 12 ys old and my father died when he was 66 and I was 16, so I do envy those who have large families.

I vowed that if I could I would have more than one child, as I know how lonely being an only child can be, particularly now that I have lost my wonderful mother too, there is no-one to share childhood memories with and as you get older memories fade. Though I had cousins, they were a whole generation older than me and lived in other parts of the country.

I was very proud to be blessed with two sons, perhaps naively thinking they would be close as they grew up. Unfortunately they have fallen out recently (over one of their partners) resulting in them not speaking. I have three GC and feel sad that the children don't see one another and, unless my sons make up which is unlikely at the moment, they will grow up not knowing one another.

What a lovely story Nickie, and how lucky you are to have such a wonderful extended family.

My father was one of eleven children and by the time I can remember lived in a big house in South London. My memories of the earliest days of my childhood are of big family gatherings at my paternal Grandparents house. My father was one of the elder children so I remember an indistinguishable mass of younger uncles and a few aunts who played games with us children and spoilt us rotten. My first real doll was one of a group one uncle brought back from Germany after his war service ended, one for each niece.

I am one of three children, the only one to have children. My husband is an only child so my children have only two aunts and no cousins. Although, as children, they were able to ride on the tailcoats of my family to some extent with weddings of cousins - and funerals and I still have that wider more diffuse network of cousins, one has moved to a town near me, another lives near DS, others I meet up with regularly.

DS is married and has two children DD has remained single and childless. DiL's family is similar so 2 DGC have two aunts, no cousins and a very small family above them. I regret that my DC and DGC cannot experience the fun and pleasure I had and still have being part of a large family.

I find myself slap bang in the middle of a five generation family ! My grandma at 96 is number one, my mum number two, then me, my son and then my three grandchildren 6,4 and 2.

We are quite a small family really and extremely close. We all see each other at least once a week and the little ones adore my grandma who they refer to as Teeny Tiny Grandma (as she seems to get smaller every day).

My own happiest memories are time spent with my grandma and if my own grandchildren love me even a fraction of how much I love her I would be overjoyed.

I have just become a Great-Grandmother for the first time and just had a visit from little Oscar--six weeks (and his Mum!) Sadly ,my husband died six months ago so didn.t know the pleasures of being a Great=Grandfather.

I come from a line of long-lived women. I was lucky enough to know one of my great- grandmothers and when my daughter was born she had three great- grandmothers living. My maternal grand-mother lived to be 93 so my daughter was grown up when she died and had built a good relationship with her. My own 3 grand- children have a great-grandmother as my mother is still alive. They all adore her. She keeps a special box of toys under the bed and goes to see all their school performances. I know we are extremely lucky to have her with us and not everyone is so fortunate but I do think it is very special for children to have a sense of family and to have relationships with people from different generations and to know that this special person is their parent's grandmother.
The younger generation in the family married much later than previous generations so I doubt that I will get to be a great- grandmother myself.

hi yummygran and all

i too have shared a like life-- parents married at 30 and 34 my dad, they had my only sister in 1930, but i wasnt b until 38; all my cousins were 20yrs older than me and the war divided us further afield; i was only 18 mths when my mother died 1940 only 42yrs old,
my fathers mother died when i was a yr old, mothers mother i saw when my sister took me there -i was always very welcome and hugged; she died 1944 just four years after my mum.
my sister went to one aunt and i to another-- somewhat due to bomb damage to our brand new home!

dad met a previous girl friend also a widow, but with 4 children; and married her, that made 6 kids +2 adults in 3 bed home! due to new wife not being liked by our family--we lost touch of many! my sister ran away from home--very unhappy; to an aunts.
i lived a sort of strange life, but was not aware of it at the time, i too was very lonely, tried hard to please, war was on and that made normal life hard!

i married young had three kids who have been the joy in my life, they only had my husband mother -she was a fantasic nana who lived to be 80 + all my grand children loved her dearly. these kids of mine are now near retirement--cant be true; dont feel old myself! i tried hard to keep family in touch and sharing time, close family was easy but those needing travel were not so;
lost my only sister when she was 50; and my dear dad when he was ninety;

my sisters life was very differcult lots of ailments and opps; mine see-sawed up and down, we helped our kids set their feet on ground, and it was good to see them flourish; grandchildren filled our home and life was grand! now these same kids are reaching into 30s we have one gt grandchild,
but in those years have been 2 divorces /miscarrages/ house moves / loss of businesses/and divided by time and water--which cost such a lot to transalantic!
now my life has become very differcult to live--deafness has claimed my freedom, though healthy in body, my marriage has aways been hanging on a thread, but with the failings of this new age- forgetfulness and general cant be bothered, preffering the armchair to socializing--its not how i saw my life ending!
but my 30 odd years as a gran have been worth all the pain and hassle

All my grandparents died before I was 10 and I only remember them vaguely which am sad about. I had my own children young and am grandmother to 7 so far who are mostly grown now and thinking about families of their own. I've loved being a grandmother and the holidays we spent together, but I was working full time when they were small so I look forward to having more time to get to know any great grandchildren our family may be blessed with and telling them all about the members of our family who have gone before.. Maybe I'll even be able to teach them to swim as I have with all the grandchildren before them

we had 5 generations my nana and mother ,me.mydaughter .then great greatgrandson xnana died when her great great gs was two x