GRANDPARENTS' DAY
Grandparents' Day is conceived as a moment of meeting and gratitude towards grandparents, guardian angels of childhood.
The idea of a national day dedicated to grandparents first came to a housewife from West Virginia, Marian Mc Quade. Mrs. Mc Quade, mother of 15 children and grandmother of 40 grandchildren, began the campaign in 1970, but had already been working with the elderly since 1956. In 1978, the then American President, Jimmy Carter, proclaimed that national grandparents' day, Grandparents Day, was celebrated annually on the first Sunday in September after Labor Day.
The anniversary in Italy falls on October 2, the day on which the Church celebrates the Angels. It was established in 2005 by Parliament which officially recognized the fundamental role of our grandparents and does not look out of place next to Father's Day and Mother's Day. The institution of the festival includes a concrete commitment on the part of local authorities (Regions, Provinces and Municipalities) to establish initiatives to enhance the role of grandparents and an annual prize, presented by the President of the Republic to the grandfather and grandmother of Italy.
In Italy, on the occasion of grandparents' day, this year their grandchildren will be able to give a personalized, small, flowering, evergreen or scented plant.
In America, on this day, schools, churches and specific organizations honor grandparents and elders with special events. Grandparents' Day has already existed for decades in the United States, and is also celebrated in other countries, such as Canada, the United Kingdom, and France, where, however, grandmothers are celebrated separately from grandfathers. Some families, on this day, gather to enjoy board games which easily encourage "generational" meetings between young and old.
The idea of a national day dedicated to grandparents first came to a housewife from West Virginia, Marian Mc Quade. Mrs. Mc Quade, mother of 15 children and grandmother of 40 grandchildren, began the campaign in 1970, but had already been working with the elderly since 1956. In 1978, the then American President, Jimmy Carter, proclaimed that national grandparents' day, Grandparents Day, was celebrated annually on the first Sunday in September after Labor Day.
The anniversary in Italy falls on October 2, the day on which the Church celebrates the Angels. It was established in 2005 by Parliament which officially recognized the fundamental role of our grandparents and does not look out of place next to Father's Day and Mother's Day. The institution of the festival includes a concrete commitment on the part of local authorities (Regions, Provinces and Municipalities) to establish initiatives to enhance the role of grandparents and an annual prize, presented by the President of the Republic to the grandfather and grandmother of Italy.
In Italy, on the occasion of grandparents' day, this year their grandchildren will be able to give a personalized, small, flowering, evergreen or scented plant.
In America, on this day, schools, churches and specific organizations honor grandparents and elders with special events. Grandparents' Day has already existed for decades in the United States, and is also celebrated in other countries, such as Canada, the United Kingdom, and France, where, however, grandmothers are celebrated separately from grandfathers. Some families, on this day, gather to enjoy board games which easily encourage "generational" meetings between young and old.