When Greg Payne became a grandpa at the age of 48, he confesses he had mixed feelings. He was excited about the news his son and daughter-in-law shared with him but he felt he was too young to become a grandpa. “I was just starting to figure out my elbow from a hole in the ground,” he says.
He knew nothing about being a grandpa and discovered there wasn’t a whole lot written about grandpas. He used his new status to gain a better understanding of the role by talking to other grandpas.
In 2020, he recorded his first episode of the Cool Grandpa podcast and has since interviewed over 80 grandpas. His goal is to gather real-life experiences from other grandpas and share their wisdom.
Recently, Greg interviewed me on his Cool Grandpa podcast. We had a lively conversation about how much the role of grandparent has changed over the years. He and I both recognize the importance of nurturing our relationship with our grandchildren’s parents. We confessed that so often the focus is all about our grandchildren.
Shared Grandparent Goals
Another common goal we share is our desire to create communities of like-minded grandparents who want to keep growing and learning. Greg is building his grandpa community by interviewing grandpas on his podcast who share their real-life experiences as sons, husbands, fathers, and most importantly grandfathers.
I started building my grandma community in 2003 when I founded our GaGa Sisterhood. My mission is to inspire grandmas to grow and learn along with their children and grandchildren. We meet every other month on Zoom and listen to speakers on a wide variety of grandparenting topics which enrich our lives with information we can share with our grandchildren. Click on this link to see a list of our upcoming Events.
Greg is an engaging podcast host and a great storyteller. I encourage you to check out Cool Grandpa and share it with the grandpas in your life.
