By some wonderful design, parents evolve into wise grandparents. Perceptions of children tend to alter once the status of grandparent is achieved. So does one's view of the world.

A lifetime of rich experiences produces the quiet confidence needed to steady youth. However, today's children do not see as much of their grandparents as we did ours. Consequently, they are losing that subtle tutoring about life that has served society so well in the past.

Generations are often separated, but whether living in the same community or across the continent, most grandparents wish to reach out to help their children and grandchildren. They desire to leave a legacy of influence for good, a legacy of values.

The stories in From Grandma With Love were selected from submissions by grandmothers across the nation. They are real-life experiences which, to the writers, became guideposts for living.

It is hoped that this book will help young people appreciate and more fully five the values which shaped the lives of their grandmothers. These experiences have the power to build character in all those who read them.

You too, whether young or old, will enjoy these stories. Some will pull at your heartstrings; some will make you laugh; others will remind you of your life. But all will influence you as you read this legacy of lessons learned and taught by wise, loving grandmothers. Experience is a great teacher.

Wayne B. Hilbig
Publisher

Be Sure to Leave on Time
I was a teenager in 1944, living in Maison Laffitte, France, under the German Occupation. During World War II, the Germans had invaded my country, and soldiers with machine guns were patrolling the streets where I lived. England was just across the English Channel from us and they were fighting the Germans too. At any hour, they might run a bombing raid against the German forces, trying to weaken the German army. When we heard the planes flying overhead, we escaped to the cellar. When there was no time to take cover, my mother would say, "Hide under the bedsheets and pray to God."

That summer I worked near the railroad station in a shop that sold silk stockings. My job was to mend the torn stockings that customers brought in. One particular day, it was almost time to stop and go home for lunch. I knew that my mother was expecting me at twelve o'clock, but I was tempted this once to stay as long as I could to finish my work. Every day at about one o'clock, the German authorities turned off the electricity in our city. If I went home at noon I would not be able to use the electrical mending machine when I returned; instead I would have to mend by hand, a very tedious task. I decided to stay.

As I continued working, drawing the silk threads together, I thought of my mother. Before I had left that morning, she had said, "Be sure to leave on time ..." I knew she'd be worried when I didn't arrive as scheduled, so I changed my mind and gathered my things to go home.

I had just crossed a large bridge that spans the Seine River near my home when I heard bombers overhead. I frantically took cover until the planes had passed and all the bombs had dropped and detonated. One bomb struck the bridge I had just crossed. I hurried home.

When it was safe, my mother and I went to see the damage done by the attack. I remember walking back across the damaged bridge upon some rickety boards, hastily placed over the holes the bomb had made. Between the boards I saw the river flowing swiftly below, and it frightened me. But the biggest shock was seeing the little stocking shop. The planes had targeted the nearby train station, and the stocking shop was destroyed along with it. Nothing remained of the building where I had been working only moments before the air raid.

War is a terrible thing, but I did learn a valuable lesson about obedience. That day, the difference between life and death was that I had listened to my mother's words: "Be sure to leave on time."

Pat Bigler
Poway, California