If you've found yourself in the position of questioning your grandparent rights to see grandchildren, you're going to need all the help you can get. If you're very lucky, there's an amicable divorce and you have a child willing to make your visitation rights part of the divorce decree. If you're very unlucky, the parents never married and you are the paternal grandparents.
Each year many thousands of grandparents and their grandchildren find themselves just much collateral damage in the war of spite, revenge, drugs and/or alcohol addiction, or simply the desire to wipe the slate clean and start a new "nest". Where before there was genuine goodwill or respectable civility for the sake of the children, now there is ugliness and disdain.
When a parent denies a grandparent rights to see grandchildren - where long-term familial bonding has taken root - the effects are nothing short of earth-shattering. Grandparent Alienation Syndrome has been proven to have emotionally crippling and long-term, devastating effects on grandchildren.
So what can be done?
One of the strongest advocates for grandparents rights to see grandchildren is the American Association of Retired Persons. This powerful lobby boasts more than 40 million members. With many millions of baby-boomers retiring in record numbers, no organization in the country speaks with more authority on matters of elder issues.
Following are some of the ways this wise & powerful coalition makes a difference:
- Advocating for legal change. This is where the organization has proven itself over time. It has taken the lead in getting laws at the state level, favoring grandparent rights to see grandchildren.
- Strengthening social change for older Americans. The association advocates on matters pertaining to Social Security, access to affordable and reliable health care and laws protecting the aged in nursing homes and assisted-living facilities.
- Voter education. The group provides information to voters about how politicians are voting, as well as positions taken on various issues. They are a marvelous resource for determining where your state and federal politicians stand on issues like grandparents rights to see grandchildren.
Granted, joining a lobby group isn't the most glamorous of ideas. When a grandparent is in the throes of hopelessness and despair over lost grandchildren, this kind of advice is seems sterile and cold. Get involved anyway. Keep your mind busy. Make a difference. There are others out there who feel as you do. You can chat with them in online forums, or start a grandparent rights to see grandchildren support group in your own hometown. Do something. Take action.
Because your grandchildren - and their legacy - matters.
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