This morning I woke up and came to the office and to my surprise, I found a short video on YouTube called “La Sorpresa de Victoria”. The video is in Spanish of course, but it speaks volumes about this young girl’s love, affection and appreciation for her grandfather.

It especially made me think because one, none of my grandparents are alive any more and two, I never knew either of them. When I was growing up, I used to hear about Grandpa Gibson and Grandma Gibson or Grandpa Gorman. My parents always used to tell me about how proud they were of their father, Judge Gibson. Judge Gibson was my paternal grandfather, who I understand was also mayor of a small town in Chicago (my hometown) – Oak Park.

Almost everyone has fond memories of their grandparents, their parents or even their parents-in-law. But how many of us really express our love and affection for them while they are alive?

Someone once told me the true strength or value of a culture could be measured based on two things: their boundless love for children and their endless love for the elderly. Unfortunately in today’s modern society, these are two of the most undervalued and underappreciated elements of our civilisation.

China systematically executes unwanted female children and most modern or developed nations do the same even before they are born. We give more importance to economy, finance and budgets than we do to spending time with our children, our elderly parents or visiting our sick friends in the hospital. But it is also good to remember that there are still people in the world, like young Victoria who honour their father and mother, by honouring their grandfather and grandmother too.

My children already have more than I had growing up. They have the opportunity to speak with, laugh, share and spend time with their grandparents. They not only speak with them, but also ask me about them and what they are doing. They share the love and affection we owe to our elderly.

Where I live in Spain, the elderly occupy a special place in the heart and minds of our community. They go by special names like “abuelo” , “abu…”, “aitona”, “mona”, “yayo”, and “grandpa” and “granpa”. What is special about my children’s grandparents is that they have one set of grandparents (my wife’s parents) who live here in Spain and another set of American grandparents who live in the United States. We still find time though at the weekends to spend time with them from our own home via Skype.

We know it’s not the same for them, to smell and touch their little hands and see them falling over and crying all day, but it is the thought that counts. My sister always tells me about how my mother’s spirit and mood changes the day or the week she talks with us and our little ones. It seems that children and elderly share a special bond.

These days as we watch the news and begin to worry about where we will spend our next holiday or when our next vacation will be, let’s not forget about Vitoria’s little secret: the secret of loving and honoring our most vulnerable and most treasured ones, above all the young and the elderly.

I invite all of our readers, from around the world to view this most endearing video: