The True Gift and Grit of Working Grandmothers

Grandmothers have always worked … but not always outside the home.
It was 2007. At a luncheon hosted by a major magazine, a panel of four women discussed their careers and what inspired them. The oldest was 53 years old, a business owner with two children at home. The youngest was 20 years old, working in a family business. The other two were in their 40s and worked for large corporations. One of them had children.
I felt restless and disengaged. They weren’t speaking to me. They couldn’t possibly relate to my experience and my challenges. I’d been there, done that. I have two daughters and four grandchildren. I’m a working mother and a working grandmother. (You never stop being a mother—no matter how old your kids are.)
I don’t know about you, but my grandmother wore corsets, orthopedic shoes, and print dresses. Sometimes her thick stockings rolled down around her ankles. Her