Change Did Come
We 'old-timers' who grew up in the '30's, '40's and '50's began noticing the changing family landscape. Folks became more and more mobile. Disappearing was the family social network due, in greater part to extended families living essentially in the same towns, if not the same neighborhoods.We were close knit and close in proximity; parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles all had a crack at giving us direction, advice and a 'blueprint' for life.
Today, our children are scattered to the winds of opportunity. They live 'away' from the extended family members. My wife and I felt cheated from the frequent informal and impromtu contacts with grandchildren so we did the next best thing; we hosted an annual grandkids weekly camp...'NABOO Camp.' The name NABOO is derived from combining the grandparent names of Nana (my wife's name) and Boompa, my grandpa handle.
The NABOO Camp experience, although physically demanding for two seniors, is one of the greatest joys in our married life. What really made it neat was the fact that our grown children thought we were doing them a favor and giving them a vacation break from their kids; we were embracing the opportunity to have grandparent-grandchildren moments without nonsense interference from 'hilicopter' parents. And WOW, did the cousins ever bond for a lifetime!
NABOO Camp was an annual retreat for fifteen grandchildren for five consecutive years. Many of those grandkids are now adults and yet when brought together for those too infrequesnt family gatherings today, those grandkids interact as though they grew up living side-byside with cousins as we did back-in-the-day.