Article 1 (Aug 2021): The woman behind Grandparents Day

The mover behind a National Grandparents Day was Marian McQuade, a housewife in Fayette County, West Virginia.
              
Her primary motivation was to champion the cause of lonely elderly people in nursing homes. She also hoped to persuade grandchildren to tap the wisdom and heritage their grandparents could provide.
              
In 1978, President Jimmy Carter proclaimed that National Grandparents Day would be celebrated every year on the first Sunday after Labor Day.  This year that is September 17. He said: "Grandparents are our continuing tie to the near past, to the events and beliefs that so strongly affect our lives and the world.  Whether they are our own or surrogate grandparents who fill gaps in our mobile society, our senior generation also provides our society a link to our national heritage and traditions. We all know grandparents whose values transcend passing fads and pressures, who possess the wisdom of distilled pain and joy. Because they are usually free to love and guide ... they can often reach out past pride and fear of failure and close the space between generations."