I never knew either of my grandfathers, and both my widowed grandmothers lived too far away even for a day trip to be practical -- I don't know how my mother felt about it, but to us it was very weird and rather déclassé to have granny-round-the-corner popping in for tea. Proper grandmothers lived at a distance such that a visit to them was a grand expedition involving changing trains and carrying suitcases and were only to be seen as part of a glorious summer holiday or extended stay -- not prosaic beings who did baby-sitting like the teenagers next door ;-)