When I held each of my daughters for the very first time within minutes of their entrance into this world, I couldn’t imagine anything better. And then I became a grandparent. Holding each of my grandchildren for the first time ever was even better! I know, I didn’t think it would be possible either, but there was something so special about watching both of my daughters become mothers themselves. On top of that, I got to hold, snuggle and smell the perfect little people they had created. What a gift!

Grandparents themselves are special people, and I’m not just saying that because I am one. Grandparents hold a place in our hearts. For many of us, when we think of grandparents, we fondly recall memories from childhood of days spent laughing and learning together. Sometimes that laughing and learning came in grand places or sometimes it happened in the simple, perfect everyday moments gathered around a kitchen table.

Grandparents teach us so many things. They give us a glimpse into a different era of time, recalling stories of their own childhoods and sharing with us their adventures, and perhaps some of their own mishaps along the way.

Grandparents are the holders of special information, like recipes for great-grandma’s sugar cookies or famous spaghetti sauce.

Grandparents can give advice on all kinds of situations because they’ve often been there, done that. Sometimes they are that trusted advisor that we can go to when we don’t feel like we can go anywhere else.

Grandparents are the ones to “spoil us”. They often share with us an extra piece of candy, the second scoop of ice cream, a sip of pop that mom or dad might not allow. Grandparents are fun babysitters, letting kids stay up past bedtime just a bit or treating kids to a favorite toy at the local toy store just because.

This Sunday, September 8, is Grandparents Day. Why not return the favor and spoil the grandparents in your life? Pick up their favorite coffee cake and enjoy a slice with them for breakfast. Celebrate together with a Sunday night dinner and bring along a cake from Ashley’s for dessert.

If you don’t live in the same city or state as your grandparents, pick up the phone and give them a call and let them know what they mean to you. I promise it’ll make their day…and the conversation might make yours, too. And even if mail isn’t delivered on Sundays, send a card and jot a note just to let them know you appreciate all they do.

If your grandparents are no longer living, perhaps you can do something to honor their memory. Visit their gravesite or light a candle in their honor. Perhaps you share a story or two or a favorite memory of your grandparents with your children.

Grandparents are a wonderful gift in our lives. Let’s celebrate them…and let’s do it with some deliciousness from Ashley’s.