I have a wonderful stepgrandma who is the only grandmother I've known on that side, though half of my cousins knew my biological grandma as well. For 30 years all the grandchildren--and now great-grandchildren--have called her "Safta" (Hebrew for grandmother). Most families have more than one grandmother, and that's why there's so many variations on the name-- Nana, Mawmaw, etc, etc.

My grandfather passed away a few years ago but Safta is still a beloved part of our lives.

Same here, except it is my grandpa. My parents don't call him dad for obvious reasons (my father was in his late teens when his father passed away), but all 7 of my grandmother's grandchildren call her new husband grandpa.

I remember when I first figured out that he wasn't my father's father and asked about it... my grandmother jokingly said that her husband passed away and she knew her grandkids would need a grandpa so she went out and got a new one.

I don't know why "the only grandma they've ever known" can't be grandma to them, even if she isn't mom to the parents. He is my grandpa, plain and simple... and it's never felt any different than any of my other grandparents. It doesn't dishonor the memory of my father's father that this other man is grandpa... if he's watching I hope he's pleased that someone else can fill that role in his absence. I'd like to think that's how I would feel in his place.

My parents divorced when I was a teenager. My mother remarried two years later. My stepfather helped raise us, but my father actively parented us too. Ten years later my father remarried. By that time I was married with a child so I always considered Martha to be Dad's wife, not a stepmother. My children had six grandparents (and four great-grandparents) so we simply identified them as Grandma Marty, Grandma Rosalie, Grandpa Dan, etc. It was never a problem. I have a wonderful relationship with each of my parents. I dearly love my father's wife and that does not affect my relationship with my mother one bit. My stepfather passed away almost ten years ago and I miss him, which does not affect my relationship with my father. My mother has remarried and now we've added Grandpa Ralph to the family. My family does additions without subtractions. I am divorced. My ex is on wife #3 so my little grandson has many grandparents. None of that affects my relationship with him. I say call the woman "Grandma Bea" and enjoy having a grandmother. My two grandmothers have been gone for a long time now and I still miss them. I am also proud to be an extra grandma for the sons of my son's best friend.

I had two sets of grandparents on my father's side, and it never seemed to be a big deal to me. It was Grandpop, and Grandma Jenny, and Grandma and (for whatever reason) Ralph. I don't know why he wasn't Grandpa Ralph, except perhaps that he and my grandmother never married. Ralph, actually was my favorite.

Now for the irony--my father's father and his family didn't like us. My mother was my father's second wife (his first wife left him, so it wasn't as if he had a choice in the matter), and my father's family shunned both her and us. My half-siblings were never acknowledged to be part of the family, and my brother and I were never called by our names--we were "the boy" and "the girl." I know full well the kind of family animosity that simmers under the surface and refuses to give names to those it dislikes. I suspect that Grandma Beatrice knows it too, and maybe she's just had enough. Or maybe she was just curious. Either way, it's a shame that this child's parent was unable to overcome what I imagine is their resentment at the "replacement" of their own mother by someone else.

Further irony: my grandfather died of a long, drawn-out form of cancer. My father and mother were the only members of the family who cared for him in his illness, to the point of moving into his house to be on call 24 hours a day. Family is a funny thing...