Grand Is The Time Spent on Grandparents Day
“Grandchildren are special. Whether it’s Friday or any day, we love spending time with our grandchildren,” said Mr. David Bejarano, the grandfather of Marco Torres (‘29). Marco’s grandmother, Ms. Espie Bejarano, added, “It’s the best time for us, enjoy them, do whatever they want to do, and enjoy their company.”
On November 18, 2022, as 11:30 a.m. rolled around the corner, grandparents started to trickle onto campus to start the 35th-ever Grandparents Day hosted by Bishops. By 12:20 p.m.they sat with their grandchildren waiting for food from waiters. Then everyone flocked into the Eva May Fleet Gym at 1:20 p.m. and sat down for a chapel talk. At the very end of the special day from 2:00-2:55 p.m., grandparents got the chance to walk around campus and visit teachers, classes, friends, and more.
Many grandparents expressed curiosity about their grandchildren’s day-to-day schedule at school. Mr. Bejarano said, “It is exciting to see the great education and environment that will set them up for the future.” Ms. Stacey Rosenburg, the grandmother of Jonah Iancovici (‘29) added, “Well, it is an opportunity to see firsthand what our grandson does, where [he] goes every day and what he is experiencing and it is nice to participate in his things.”
Ms. Tommi Adelizzi the grandmother of Thomas (Tom) Adelizzi (‘28) has a sister named Judy Lane (‘59) who went to Bishop’s, so Ms. Adelizzi is “familiar with this school,” and at that time, was an all-girls school. “The difference from the all-girls school [in the] 1950s to now is unbelievable,” she said. Others such as Ms. Asha Kumar, Milan Kumar’s (‘24) grandmother, and Mr. Charles Gaylord, Weston Gaylord’s (‘29) grandfather, also talked about wanting to see what their grandchildren are doing every day.
Grandparents on campus created lasting memories for all attendees. Students like Milan and grandparents Ms. Rosenburg, Ms. Lynn Gaylord, and Mr. Gaylord all said that Grandparent’s Day bolsters the bond between grandparents and grandchildren. Milan said, “It’s an excuse to see them more often because they live in LA…” Weston said that Grandparent’s Day is a “really great opportunity to hang out with my grandparents”.
Thomas described Grandparent’s Day as a “fun way to celebrate an early Thanksgiving with the whole school and with grandparents.” Weston is Mr. and Ms. Gaylord’s fourth grandchild all of whom went to Bishops. Mr. Gaylord says that it is a great experience to see what goes on at Bishop’s. Ms. Kumar said, “It’s really nice to spend time with him and see him. He is a very busy guy, nice to catch him whenever we can.”
Grandparent’s day brought back many fond cooking memories. Mr. and Ms. Bejarano described Marco as “the cook of the family.” Their favorite meal ever to make is “brown turkey tacos because it is really easy to make, it comes out fast and everyone likes it,” says Marco. On the idea of delicious foods, Jonah said that his grandfather, Mr. Don Rosenburg, makes good eggs and his grandmother Ms. Rosenburg makes good pancakes. She added, “food is an important part of our life, food is a love language”.
Travel adventures and memories were also brought up on Grandparents Day, Ms. and Mr. Bejarano also have fond travel adventures with one being when they went to Europe with all the grandchildren. In Europe, they got to spend time with them and it was a special trip because they did not have lots of time to spend together. Mr. Rosenburg said “Jonah, his dad, and I took a trip to Paris and it was a great great great trip, we saw a lot of things in Paris and went to Versailles,” said Mr. Rosenburg. Ms. Gaylord said that she loves it when the family goes to Hawaii for vacation and when they go to Jackson Hole to go skiing because they can see each other all day long an
d added: “you can’t trade that for the world, just wonderful.”
Some other families not only on Grandparents Day but also whenever they can love to play board games like Milan. Milan said, “We play board games, talk, and play tennis because their house has an area for tennis, watch TV, and relax.” Lynn and Weston also love to play with their two dogs, Barley and Holly. For Tom, when he visits his grandparents he loves to go in the pool they have at their house, watch Sunday NFL Football, and eat lunch together. Mr. and Ms. Rosenburg take Jonah to different practices and Ms. Rosenburg later said “we spend a lot of time together, share stories from when we were growing up and our traditions and pass them along.”
In the end, everyone got to enjoy two plates of great food offered on Grandparents Day, one plate was the entree which consisted of bread and butter, green beans, chicken, and mashed potatoes and the dessert was pie which Lynn said “three cheers to the food, three cheers to Bishops.”
David Lai, the only returning staff writer, is a junior who loves playing soccer. No matter if he sleeps one hour or 10 hours, he always has a full tank...