Today, more and more grandmothers around the world are taking on varied responsibilities and many roles, sometimes concurrently. Consequently, grandmothers continue to play, as in the past, an influential role not only in the lives of their grandchildren, but also in our communities and in society more broadly. Grandmothers and Grandmothering: Creative and Critical Contemplations in Honour of our Women Elders, as the title suggests, seeks to pay homage to our grandmothers and their contributions to society. As well, it aims to explore the textured and complex phenomena of grandmothering from a range of disciplines and cultural perspectives. Our hope is that this collection challenges preconceived notions of what it means to be a grandmother and provides insight into the multifaceted nature of grandmothering.
Dedication
Acknowledgements
Foreword
Gina Valle
Introduction & Postscript
Kathy Mantas
Chapter 1
The Paradoxes of Grandmothering:
An Autobiographical Experience of Two Lesbian Grandmothers in South Africa
Fikile Vilakazi & Janette Zodwa Magubane
Chapter 2
North of the Diamond
Elizabeth Johnston Ambrose
Chapter 3
Saying I Love You: Khmer-American Style
Bunkong Tuon
Chapter 4
My Esther: Darkness and the Shine
Joanne M. Clarkson
Chapter 5
The Stories of Carolyn King of Parry Island
Jennifer King
Chapter 6
Malleable Matter
Maja A. Ngom
Chapter 7
Gail Peters Little: Relationship of Love and Abandonment
Marion G. Dumont
Chapter 8
Grandmothering in the Context of Criminal Justice: Grandmothers in Prison and
Grandmothers as Caregivers When a Parent is Imprisoned
Lucy Baldwin
Chapter 9
A Series of Four Poems, Variations on a Theme:
The Mother of a New Mother, at Birth of a Child
Janet e. Smith
Chapter 10
Grandmothers Near and Far
Michele Hoffnung and Emily Stier Adler
Chapter 11
Walk Beside Me
Debbie Lee
Chapter 12
Have Moon Fairies Flown Away?: Evolving Role of Grandmothers in Pakistan
Anwar Shaheen & Abeerah Ali
Chapter 13
A Patchwork Life
Gladys Loewen, Sharon Loewen Shepherd and William Loewen
Chapter 14
Not a Fairy Grandmother
Lorinda Peterson
Chapter 15
When Wisdom Speaks Sparks Fly:
Raging Grannies Perform Humor as Protest
Carole Roy
Chapter 16
Nokmisag: Bemnigying
Moktthewenkwe Barbara Wall
Contributor Notes
