By Bob and Pat Rudolph, Chair and Co-founder of GROWS, Steilacoom
We at Grandparents Rights of Washington State (GROWS) have been working very hard for the past several years to get legislation passed to give good, loving and caring grandparents the right to petition the court for visitation with their beloved grandchildren when the grandparents are unreasonably being kept from them.
We are advocating for legislation giving grandparents or persons with a significant relationship by blood or law, standing in court. Going to court should be the very last resort for any family. We strongly recommend families try to work out their problems within the family, then mediation or any other means other than going to court. What a tragic loss for our loving grandchildren, missing visits with their beloved grandparents.
Most of us have fond memories of our grandparents cooking, fishing, going to the zoo, doing home work or just some comfy shoulder to lean on. Shouldn’t all children have a right to those wonderful memories? Let me stress we do not want to take away parents’ rights. Those rights are sacrosanct. For more information please contact us at wagrows@gmail.com.