The family is our refuge and our springboard; nourished on it, we can advance to new horizons. In every conceivable manner, the family is link to our… - Alex Haley

In every conceivable manner, the family is link to our past, bridge to our future.

When you clench your fist, no one can put anything in your hand, nor can your hand pick up anything.

Just look at the scores of thousands of housing tracts in this country, where only parents and children live. Think of the impact on these children who will grow up without close proximity to grandparents. There are certain things that a grandmammy or a granddaddy can do for a child that no one else can. It's sort of like Stardust — the relationship between grandparents and children. The lack of this for many children has to have a negative impact on society. The edges of these children are a little sharper for the lack of it. … I tell young people to go to the oldest members of their family and get as much oral history as possible. Many grandparents carry three or four generations of history in their heads but don't talk about it because they have been ignored. And when the young person starts doing this, the old are warmed to the cockles of their souls and will tell a grandchild everything they can muster.

In every conceivable manner, the family is link to our past, bridge to our future.