Grandfamilies: On Trust

Cadence and His Rob-Daddy. July 2011. Las Vegas. Picture your family relationships like a stack of blocks. And we’re not talking about the orderly stacking that results in pyramids or little models of the White House. Oh, no. This stack is haphazard. You didn’t select your children’s personalities, did you? If we could, then maybe we […]


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Grandfamilies: Summer Goodness

Even filling the pool is a blast when you’re not quite four. Cadence, 2010.  Yesterday marked the official beginning of summer. Now, it may be that you know exactly when summer begins because the kids are home from school or the light hits your garden just so or the tomatoes take on that amazing flavor that […]


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Grandfamilies: Right Things

Ayden, Cadence, Rich, Me. March Field Air Museum. June 2016. Photo: Rodney G. Seiler How can one weekend hold so much pain?  From private tragedy to slaughter that devastates us all, this past weekend was a tough one. What can we hang on to when terror and hate spew from a rifle? How do we keep […]


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Grandfamilies: Wreckage

One Big Mess. Trabuco Canyon Road. December 2010. A quick way to learn how little you know is to begin sharing your thoughts on a topic with people. I’ve been writing about relationships in families that are both blended and extended for some time now, but a recent email from a reader sent me straight to […]


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Grandfamilies: Summer Car Games #1: Dreaming Together

Cadence, Papa Rich, and Ayden, Blowing Out Papa’s Birthday Candles. April 2011. Big Dreams for Big Dreamers Let’s play a game, boys, I chirped as we drove the boys home after a weekend overnighter. Let’s see how big a dream we can cook up. Just tell us your biggest, biggest dream. Cadence didn’t hesitate. I want an […]


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