Nancy Caldwell has 21 grandchildren, with one more on the way. But like so many other grandparents these days, she has helped raise them.

In fact, at times she became the sole caregiver for six of her grandchildren. “I kept my grandchildren so my children could better their lives,” she said.

Ms. Caldwell, who described herself as a seasoned adult and older than half of a hundred plus, took over the responsibility of a new generation while her children attended schools or job-training programs.

“Even now that I don’t have to raise them,” she said, “I take them on Saturday. I call that Nana’s Day.” Together, the family likes to read, talk or watch movies –– but not violent ones.

In raising her grandchildren, Ms. Caldwell said she learned a lot about children through experience and also education. “To be honest, the second time around it was easier, because I knew what to do.”

Ms. Caldwell still suffered difficult times. She was single as a mother and a grandmother, which she said made a difference for her financially, mentally and physically.

She recalled getting her hand caught in a hydraulic press at work. The subsequent injury led to depression, which only worsened her health.

She felt depressed over her physical condition, but also being unable to provide better transportation or a better home. “Yeah, I slowed down,” she said. “I slowed down a lot.”

But Ms. Caldwell also had the strength of knowing more, she said. “I knew the signs of chicken pox and measles, and disappointment, and misunderstanding.”

“When I was younger,” she admitted, “my philosophy was if someone hits you, hit them back.” This changed when she raised her grandchildren.

Though she described herself as having been a fighter once upon a time, Ms. Caldwell said that violence does not always stop at fists.

She saw too many tearful visits to a principal’s office, and too many suspensions. “Now I say, ‘Think about it, talk about it, pray about it, then react.’

“There needs to be more love in the world. It took many years of seeing and praying to realize that.”

Ms. Caldwell spends much of her time volunteering for the Parent Resource Center at Southwest Gardens in Farrell. She still picks up her grandchildren sometimes, and they will occasionally hunt her down in the offices.

While Ms. Caldwell talked fondly of her grandchildren, she still expressed concern at the phenomenon of grandparents raising a second generation.