When Grandparents Lived Next Door
When I was growing up, I didn’t need technology to connect with my grandparents. I didn’t need screens or apps or even the telephone. My family all lived within a mile or two of each other. My Papou and Yiaya were just down the road, and my parents lived right next door. If I wanted a cookie, a hug, or to hear a story, I only had to walk across the yard.
That was my childhood: close, constant, woven together.
My son’s childhood looks very different.
He never met his paternal grandparents. He’ll never know the smell of my Papou’s cigar smoke curling through the kitchen or hear him correct a broker’s math mistake with a grin because he’d already calculated the commission in his head. He’ll never taste my Yiaya’s warm cookies straight out of the oven or see my other Yiaya slip quietly into her pew, rosary in hand, first to arrive at church and last to leave. Those memories live in me, but not in him.
What he did have was his maternal grandmother his Yiaya Becky. She moved across the country to Philadelphia almost a decade ago, just to be near her grandson. She baked with him, played with him, cheered for him. And then, in November 2024, we lost her suddenly to two aggressive cancers and a blood disorder. One day she was here, and then she was gone.
Now my son has two grandparents left who are alive and well his Grandpa and step-grandmother. But they live in California. They visit twice a year, and those visits are wonderful, but they aren’t enough. Not compared to what I had as a kid.
And this is where technology, the thing I never needed, becomes a lifeline for him.
Zoom storytime – Why It Works (Even If It’s Not Perfect)
Not because it replaces sitting shoulder to shoulder with a grandparent, but because it gives him a bridge to what geography has taken away. When his Grandpa reads to him over Zoom, it’s not just about the book. It’s about routine. It’s about knowing that even from three time zones away his grandparents can still be part of his bedtime, still be a voice he knows as well as his own.
I picture him leaning toward the screen, waiting for Grandpa to use a funny voice, or for his Grandmom to pause and ask him, “What do you think happens next?” It’s not the same as the world I grew up in, where grandparents were always a short walk away. But it’s still connection. It’s still memory in the making.
I think about how much I took for granted, having family so close. And I think about my son, who deserves to feel the same kind of closeness, even if it looks different.
That’s why I believe every grandparent should try Zoom storytime. Because whether you’re across the street or across the country, what matters isn’t the medium…it’s the presence. The sound of your voice, the rhythm of your reading, the ritual of showing up week after week.
One day, those are the things a child will remember most.
Try this out
If you’re a grandparent who lives far away, don’t let the miles rob you of the everyday magic of storytime. Pick a book. Set a time. Open the laptop. Your grandchild will lean in, listen, and remember.