Grandparents' house, where elderly people find company and become useful

They are magical places, where generations meet. And where we see the enormous waste of grandparents in Italy. We don't know how to use them, we fail to see them as a resource rather than a problem. And we only remember them when money and children and grandchildren pass on.

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grandparents' house

GRANDPARENTS' HOUSE –

Have you ever set foot in a grandparent's home ? They are magical places, where you understand how old age becomes another life if you are not condemned to loneliness , abandonment, and indifference. If you are not considered a problem, but rather a resource. And if you manage to rebuild a network of relationships, as well as affection, with the new generations.

I sincerely believe that grandparents represent an enormous waste of human capital in our country . We are all rightly concerned about the demographic curve, an aging society that leaves little room for young people, declining birth rates, and the costs of all this for a welfare system at risk of becoming unsustainable. All true. However, we forget to add a significant detail: grandparents not only have the full right not to be abandoned, but precisely because of their newfound vitality (I have known grandparents who were already elderly at my age today...) they can represent an extraordinary lever for change and the rediscovery of community, whether family or social.

ALSO READ: Luckily there are grandparents, 7 million of them help their children and grandchildren

GRANDPARENTS' HOUSE FORLÌ –

Take the case of the latest Grandparents' Home , recently opened in Italy, in the suburban La Cava neighborhood of Forlì , thanks to the energetic work of a talented and lively parish priest, Father Davide Brighi, the financial support of the Cassa di Risparmio di Forlì Foundation, and the usual generosity of the volunteer network. The Grandparents' Home is open Monday through Friday, from 8:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., and primarily helps the loneliest elderly people rebuild a family atmosphere . Here, grandparents cook, roll out dough with a rolling pin, knit, complete puzzles together, and play cards. But they also practice painting , gymnastics, group games, and even laughter therapy . They plan outings and trips. And who do they do all this with? With the volunteers , of course, but also with the local children who, in turn, benefit from living at the Grandparents' Home in terms of companionship, pastimes, learning, and pure fun.

GRANDPARENTS' HOUSES IN ITALY –

Grandparents' homes should truly be multiplied throughout Italy. And we should increasingly utilize older people in useful work, for example, to support local governments that have limited resources for their services. On the contrary, we should avoid considering grandparents in our families merely a convenient ATM, invaluable in times of great crisis: never forget that in Italy we have 7 million grandparents who support their children and grandchildren. So: long live grandparents, without abandoning them or wasting them!

COME ON GRANDPARENTS, HOW MANY THINGS THEY CAN GIVE US:

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