ABSTRACT
In 1986, Andrew J. Cherlin and Frank F. Furstenburg published their study, The New American Grandparent. Far from being a special case, divorce has been a common feature of American family life since at least the 1960s. When parents divorce, grandparents are frequently called upon to increase the practical support that they provide. Despite the fact that divorce is so common, many children feel abandoned and alone with their feelings when it happens to them. The divorce-remarriage cycle has created millions of new stepfamilies. The type of relationship we develop with our stepgrand-child will depend on a number of variables. Divorces, remarriages, blended families, and stepchildren do not suddenly disappear with time; they simply evolve into the next stages of the family cycle.
