National Grandparents Day is a relatively new holiday in the United States. Celebrated the first Sunday after Labor Day, this year, Grandparents Day is Sunday, September 13, 2015.
In the 1979 proclamation establishing the first Grandparents Day in the United States, President Jimmy Carter said:
Grandparents are our continuing tie to the near-past, to the events and beliefs and experiences that so strongly affect our lives and the world around us. Whether they are our own or surrogate grandparents who fill some of the gaps in our mobile society, our senior generation also provides our society a link to our national heritage and traditions.
We all know grandparents whose values transcend passing fads and pressures, and who possess the wisdom of distilled pain and joy. Because they are usually free to love and guide and befriend the young without having to take daily responsibility for them, they can often reach out past pride and fear of failure and close the space between generations.
A secular holiday, Grandparents Day is celebrated in numerous countries around the world including Australia, Canada, Italy, Germany France, Pakistan, Taiwan and others. With the number of Grandparents in the US currently around 70 Million and expected to rise to 80 million by 2020, Grandparents Day is likely to grow in significance.
The calendar of 11 years of “When is Grandparents Day”? for the United States.