And the best letters from other readers

VAL GAuBerT, 75, lives in Harpenden and has two grandchildren, 15 and 12. She says: SCIENTISTS at Edinburgh scratch their heads over the purpose of older generations, so let me enlighten them. This is what we do: • Help to pack grandchildren’s homework, lunch and water bottle neatly into school bag. • Do the school run. • Wait in grandchildren’s house for electrician to arrive, meanwhile mending the lavatory. • Wash up and tidy kitchen. • Feed rabbit and banish neighbour’s cats. • Mend school trousers, a particular grandmaternal skill that seems not to have passed down the generations. • Go to shops and banks for parents who can’t get there during daylight hours. • Cook evening meal for grandchildren. • Babysit until late at night. • At ours, maintain bedrooms and drawers for each grandchild so they feel at home with us . . .

All the above activities are quite likely to occur on the same day. Hope that helps with scientific inquiries. MArGAreT CHeNNery, 86, lives in Wisbech, Cambridgeshire. She has four grandchildren, aged 21 to 40, and one great-granddaughter, aged two. She says: IT’S A pity the scientists at Edinburgh University don’t have anything better to do with their time. By contrast, my day started at 5am, when I took my 37-year-old grandson to work because his car had broken down.

I’m 86 years old, a full three-and-a-half decades older than a woman’s ‘useful’ lifespan of 50, according to the scientists. Perhaps from a cold biological point of view, science can find no reason for our longevity. But on a daily basis, we’re the ones who answer the emergency calls for help and drop everything to do it. BruCe Budd, 76, lives in Leeds with his wife Lesley. Between them they have 14 grandchildren. He says: AS A grandfather to 14, my own opinion is that grandparents have a crucial role to play in families both biologically and spiritually, despite what the theory of evolution may say.

It’s so different from being a parent. Before retirement, we were both singers with Opera North, and at times our work could be allconsuming, to the extent that we weren’t always able to stop and watch our children grow. As grandparents, we love to listen to what they say and enjoy how funny, and sometimes wise, they are. It’s a unique and special relationship. LINdy eLLIoTT, 65, lives in Bath and has four grandchildren, aged two to 14. She says: I WAS exasperated to read that scientists can find no biological reason for grandparents’ survival. Don’t they refer to past anthropological studies before pontificating?

Back in the Seventies several books were written about the evolution of the family and the roles played by different members. I read them as part of my teacher-training course. They made perfect sense then and, as a grandmother now, they make perfect sense today.

Once women pass child-bearing age, they become helpers and carers for daughters and daughters-in-law. It’s a natural instinct to want to do this; although my children are in their 30s and 40s now, I still want to nurture and look after my grandchildren. In practice, that means having a lot of fun with them, and even being the naughty one, without the constraints of being mum. Together we build dens in the wood, watch films and eat sweets.

Anyway, people don’t need to have a biological purpose to be valued.