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Gross has a deep, everyday relationship with his grandchildren that many grandparents would move halfway round the world to enjoy. In fact, that's just about what Judith Hendra did. This summer Hendra quit her job as a fund raiser for Beth Israel Medical Center in New York City, sold her loft and moved with her husband, a free-lance photographer, and her German shepherd to Los Angeles to be near her 18-month-old granddaughter Julia. "I reckon I have a window of opportunity of about 10 years before she turns into a California preteen, and then it'll be over," jokes Hendra. In the meantime Hendra, who plans to work part-time as a consultant, is looking forward to indulging a modest-sounding ambition: "I'd like to be a person who's taken for granted, who picks Julia up from school and does ordinary things that are actually very important for kids. I don't want to be a special event." Now that's something special.
--With reporting by Jeanne DeQuine/Miami, Maureen Harrington/Denver, Anne Moffett/Washington, Chandrika Narayan/Dallas and Adrianne Navon/New York