Grandma Hugs

Try thinking of your ancestral connections in terms of something you have real-life experience with: Grandma Hugs.

Sometimes when we talk about an ancestor and insert lots of “greats” in front of their name (“your great-great-great-great Grandma”), our connection to them sounds very distant indeed!

Try for a moment to think of your ancestral connections in terms of something you have real-life experience with: Grandma Hugs.

You’ve been hugged many times by your Grandma, right?! (Some of you may even remember being hugged by a great-Grandma!) Can you close your eyes and feel that hug? Do you remember how she smelled? Maybe to you she smelled like flowers or bread or cookies? You know for sure that your Grandma is REAL and that her love for you is very real!

Consider for a moment the idea that your beloved Grandma once upon a time ago was a little girl and was hugged by her Grandma… Who was that person to you?

Your Grandma’s Grandma was your Great-Great-Grandma.

Did you ever get to meet your Great-Great Grandma? I did not. But one day when hugging my Grandma I had the startling realization that I was hugging a person who’d been hugged by one of my “great-greats!” Suddenly there was connection!

I now use this simple concept with my children, and we are always wide-eyed when we realize how far back we can travel in time with just a few “Grandma Hugs.”

For example, in the photo below, the boy on the left is my grandpa, Great-Grandpa to my children. The woman behind him and to the right is…you guessed it! His Grandma.

Putting dates on this time-travel experience can add to the fun 🙂 My children last hugged this Great-Grandpa in 2019. In that moment, they were hugging someone who’d been hugged by a woman born in 1867, one of their three times Great Grandmas! (a Great-Great-Great Grandma). That’s 152 years spanned in one Grandma/Grandpa Hug!!

Try applying the “Grandma Hug” principle to yourself!

Having photo evidence of grandparent-grandchild interactions like this example is wonderful, but it’s not always possible. Nor is it necessary!

Pull out a pedigree chart. Start by circling all of the people you have hugged. Look at the years of each person’s birth and death. Any time there is an overlap in lifetimes, assume a “Grandma (or Grandpa) Hug.” (I even assume this for those who have married into the family, a.k.a. in-laws).

How many “Grandma Hugs” away from a third-great grandparent are you? How many “Grandma Hugs” away from an immigrant ancestor are you? You may be surprised! In many cases, it doesn’t take too many “Grandma Hugs” to reach back a couple or even a few hundred years!

Grandma Hugs connect generations of family.