I put in 3 possible answers-in the 2nd choice, you met them at least once, but had no close ongoing relationship with them. In the 3rd they were a more regular part of your life.
Me, I missed mine by c. 10-15 years, but I’m talking about my adoptive ones there (since, yes, I am). However, I missed meeting my maternal biological great-grandmother by only 7 years, and she died when I was 27.
Yes, I put in a bailout option for those who might have been in similar circumstances, or for other unforseen scenarios.
Three out of for sets I knew very well. My dads’s paternal grandparents died before I knew them. My last surviving grat grandparent lived to be over 100 and passed away when I was well into my 30s.
I knew all of my great-grandparents, though one great-grandfather died while I was pretty young. They have all passed away now, but lived to 84, 86, 96 and 101. One set lived 200 miles north and the other set 200 miles south, so we saw them at best once a year and generally not every year.
My father’s father’s parents were a regular part of my life when I was a small child. I don’t know exactly when they passed, but I was probably not yet in school. I have spotty memories of them, but there are lots of pictures of all of us together.
I met my mother’s mother’s mother once when I was tiny. There’s a picture. I have no memories of her.
The only one I really knew was my father’s mother’s mother, who died when i was in seventh grade. I visited her house several times, as she lived down the street from her daughter (“Grandma”), who resided in Cleveland while I was growing up in a suburb thereof. Great-Grandma’s first husband died before I was born, but I have a few memories of her second husband, who also predeceased her.
My father’s father’s father was gone years before I came along, while his wife hung on until I was a baby. I’m told she held me a few times, and that a picture taken on one such occasion exists, but I don’t recall ever seeing it.
As for my mother’s father’s parents, Great-Grandpa lived in Cincinnati until I was in my early teens. He sent birthday and Christmas cards, but I don’t remember ever talking to him, even on the phone. I have seen photos of him and his wife (who died before he did) with my infant self.
My mother’s mother’s parents were both deceased by the time I came along, so I had no brushes with them.
My mother says she didn’t even get to know her grandparents very well. They were from Slovakia and probably didn’t speak English, and died when she was young.
My dad was partially raised by his grandmother on his mother’s side, and I am glad that I got to meet her and have some pictures taken. I remember visiting her home once and then her funeral when I was about 6.
My dad’s dad had “old” parents so they didn’t last long enough for me to meet them.
I knew one, my father’s grandmother. I was named for her and she lived until I was 9. She was pretty sharp mentally until the last year, so I did know her fairly well.
I’m curious as to why you provided separate options for great-grandmother and great-grandfather, but not for the multiple sets of greats a person could have. Are we supposed to check multiple boxes if we had different great-grandmothers who fit into different categories?
At any rate, the only great-grandparents whose lives overlapped with mine were my mother’s father’s parents. I have vague memories of visiting them in the old folks’ home when I was a young child.
The only great-grandparent I knew was a great-grandmother. I checked “regular part of my life” but that’s really stretching the truth. I saw her many, many times but not exactly on a regular basis. She lived all the way up until I was in my early 20s, so there were a lot of opportunities to see her.
Although I was too young to remember, I was acquainted with one great-grandmother (mother’s mother’s mom) in my earliest years. She died when I was 2. I have a photo of the 4 of us–me, Mom, Grandma, and Great-grandma; I’m sitting in the oldest lady’s lap.
I lived with my great-grandmother (mother’s maternal grandmother) until I was about 8. Never met any of the other greats. Or any of the grands for that matter, except for my mother’s mother.
I was the youngest of my generation on my fathers side and one of the youngest on my mothers side. They were all long gone before I was born. I only knew two grand parents.
I only remember one of my biological great-grandparents, my great-grandfather, who died when I was eight. However, his second wife, my step-great-grandmother, was alive until I was almost thirty. I would classify her as somewhere in between your second and third options; she was definitely a presence in my life, but not really a regular part of it, and I didn’t particularly like her (almost nobody did).
My great-grandmother lived until I was about 10, and I saw her often until she passed away. My other great-grandparents died long before I was born (as did two of my grandparents - my father’s father was born in the 1870s).