Humana-Medicare airs a delightful TV commercial that shows a collage of scenes featuring young children with their grandparents.  The children’s ages appear to range from four to eight.  While the tune “To Know Him is to Love Him” is playing softly in the background a child in each scene utters a one-liner exalting his or her love for the attending grandparent.

One perky little girl says “Grandma is my best friend” while another child declares, “Grandpa is cool.”  In my favorite scene a small boy sitting beside his grandpa at the bowling alley is holding a bowling ball that probably weighs more than he does.  Just before the child stands up and tosses the ball down the lane he exclaims, “This is how grandpa and I roll!”  Kudos to the creators of that commercial.  It is the best! 

Children as young as those in the Humana commercial often hold a fondness for their grandparents that is second only to the love for their parents, particularly if the grandparents live nearby.  During their early grade school years we grandparents lose count of how many times we receive a phone call asking, “Grandma, can I come over and spend the night?” A bond that is cemented from birth doesn’t lessen as the grandchild grows older, sometimes it just seems that it does. 

Obviously, as our grandchildren reach puberty their attention veers outside the family to other things.  If you are a grandparent, unless you are currently experiencing a senior moment, you can recall that it happened to you, too.  Aside from the obvious attractions — or some would say distractions — that capture the attention of today’s preteens and adolescents, grandparents have to compete with video games, computers and other technology.  If we want equal time, then we have to be creative.  Just inviting them to our home with guilt-inducing comments like, “You haven’t been here in weeks.” won’t work.  Be resourceful.  Level the playing field.  If your grandchildren are like mine, then they are almost always on the computer.  Send them an IM or email saying, “Come over this weekend and we’ll eat pizza and play Scrabble Slam.”  Okay, maybe Scrabble Slam isn’t appealing enough.  One thing that will surely bring them scurrying to your door — send a text message saying “Hey Sweetie. I just bought the newest action Wii game.  OMG it is awesome!”

The rise in suicides and filicide-suicide among baby boomers is attributed to the recession, according to numerous media reports and studies like one recently published in the September/October issue of the journal Public Health Reports. How unfortunate that those victims saw no remedy to their dilemma except to opt out. 

Some things in life are beyond our control.  In his book “The Purpose Driven Life” Rick Warren wrote, “No one is immune to pain or insulated from suffering, and no one gets to skate through life problem-free. Life is a series of problems. Every time you solve one, another is waiting to take its place.”  We cannot avoid every negative occurrence that affects us, but we can decide how we react to those daunting events.

Copping out by commiting suicide is a selfish choice and should not be an option.  Suicide and murder have a prolonged effect on the family members and friends left behind.  As long as there is life, there is hope.  Christians in distress often rely on prayer to overcome dire circumstances, non-believers may choose other resources.  Whatever works to help one cope is better than the finality of death.

I strongly believe in the value of constantly reading inspirational materials. Not only do the positive messages facilitate getting through the hard times with an optimistic attitude, but they provide hope and alternatives to settling in a perceived doom and gloom existence.  Years ago, I bought two life changing books; one by James Allen titled “As A Man Thinketh” the other was Dr. Norman Vincent Peale’s “The Power of Positive Thinking.”  Those books not only uplifted my wounded spirit, they enabled me to see things from a different perspective, and thereby redirected the course of my life.  

Life is short enough as it is. Problems can be remedied, but suicide is final.  Whatever dark road you see ahead could look brighter tomorrow, but if you are dead there will be no tomorrow.

“I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing:  therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live.”  Deuteronomy 30:19