MATT GENTRY The Roanoke Times

Louise Adams holds grandson Nathan, 7 weeks.

JUSTIN COOK The Roanoke Times

Jim and Elaine Gaines stand on the porch of a 120-year-old cottage on their Poverty Creek property with their dogs, Buck and Dottie. The Gaines have nine children and 23 grandchildren and at one time lived with eight of their children in this cabin while their current home was being built on the property.

JUSTIN COOK The Roanoke Times

Helen Borny of Blacksburg lives close to three of her five grandchildren.

JUSTIN COOK The Roanoke Times

Ruby Epperly, grandmother of six, lives in Christiansburg.

Helen Borny

The 82-year-old originally from New Jersey, who now lives in Blacksburg, has five grandchildren: Ted, 19, Tim, 18, and Matt, 15, of Blacksburg and Charlie, 18, and Kelly, 16, of New Jersey.

Borny -- called "Boboci," the Polish word for grandmother by her grandchildren -- moved to Blacksburg six years ago to be closer to her family.

"It's the best of both worlds," Borny said. "I have my family here, and when they go to visit in New Jersey, they drop me off with other family members for a visit."

She said she tries to attend all the activities her three Blacksburg grandchildren are involved in -- swim meets, lacrosse games and band performances. They help Borny when she needs it, including through rehabilitation last year after she had hip surgery.

"I think it's nice having her so close," 18-year-old Ted Borny said. "She's been here for us, and we help her when she needs it."

Helen Borny said many of her friends don't have grandchildren in the area and often tell her how lucky she is to be able to spent time with hers. She cooks her traditional Polish kielbasa for school events and shares family memories of her mother, who was born in Lithuania, and her late husband.

"They're good kids," Borny said. "I wouldn't trade them for anything."

Ruby Epperly

The 88-year-old from Christiansburg has six grandchildren: David, 43, Joe, 42, Kim, 38, Cherie, 30, and twins William and Martha, 14. She also has two step-grandchildren, Brandy, 20, and Leigh, 22, and four great-grandchildren: Nikki, 23, Amber, 13, Tanner, 11, and Brooke, 11. All are local except Cherie, who lives in Georgia.

With almost a 30-year age difference between her grandchildren, being a grandmother can be interesting, Epperly said.

"It is a little strange," she said. "But I love them all and they mean so much to me. They're real special."

With the exception of one child in Georgia, she sees her grandchildren often -- great-grandchild Brooke sleeps over sometimes, and the whole family took Epperly to dinner for her 88th birthday Aug. 2.

She said her grandchildren and great-grandchildren have helped her to feel less alone since the death of her husband, Bill, 23 years ago. Epperly still lives in the house she and Bill built 52 years ago in Christiansburg.

"Sometimes I think that if I didn't have them, I wouldn't have nobody," Epperly said, "I have my friends, but it isn't hardly the same without family."

Louise Adams

Originally of Philadelphia, now residing in Blacksburg, Adams is grandmother to Nathan, born July 14.

Adams, who declined to give her age, said the birth of her first grandchild, Nathan, was a parenting milestone.

Nathan is the son of Adams' eldest son, Dennis Adams, 34, and his wife, Yvonne, who live in Lexington.

"It's one of those things that brings you in a full circle -- from the birth of your child to the birth of their first child," Adams said. "It struck me how comfortable and confident and nurturing Dennis is -- not that I was surprised. I'm just so proud."

"Right now, I have a lot of imaginings about what will be," Louise Adams said. "I want to do the wonderful things I did with my sons with Nathan."

Adams said she particularly remembers loading up the station wagon with her two sons and going to Washington, D.C., to see the sights. She'd like to do the same with Nathan when he's older.

"I think it's important for kids to [have] access to cultural things to add balance to their lives," Adams said.

Jim and Elaine Gaines

Jim, 81, and Elaine, 74, of Blacksburg, have 23 grandchildren, as well as two great-grandchildren and a third due in March.

It isn't often the Gaines clan gets together. They are spread out across the country: Virginia, Florida, Illinois, Delaware, Washington and North Carolina.

"We travel a lot to see them," Elaine Gaines said.

There are usually one or two families missing from gatherings because it's so hard to coordinate schedules of the Gaines' nine children and their families.

"But when we do, it's a wonderful occasion," Jim Gaines said. "It's more fun being grandparents than parents. Spoiling is the job of the grandparents -- not that we didn't spoil our children."

The family grew closer with the deployment of one of the Gaines' grandchildren, Zack Mayo, an aviation technician in the Navy, who spent nine months on an aircraft carrier in the waters off Iraq. He is now stationed in Virginia Beach.

"We went to see him off and went on a tour of the aircraft carrier," Jim Gaines said. "He sent us lots of e-mails and pictures while he was there."

When family members do get together, their traditions include making root beer floats and playing Rummikub, a tile-based game similar to mah jongg.

The Gaineses said it is more enjoyable to be a grandparent because there is less responsibility, such as changing diapers.

"It's neat to watch them grow up and watch their interests develop," Elaine Gaines said.