When one goes to a wedding and hears the phrase "Til death do us part", that doesn't hold much weight in today's society. But for my grandmother, she stuck true to that vow. Her husband, my grandfather, passed away in 2005 and they were married to each other their entire lives (8 months shy of 50 years). Together they raised five kids and ran a farm. That life isn't easy, but it was the life God had chosen for them. From her five children came eleven more as well as two more brought in by marriage, but still grandchildren she loved nonetheless. She even lived long enough to become a great grandma to a very hyper, but very cute little boy.
My earliest memories of her was when she still had very dark, black curly hair. Because she lived in Wisconsin and us in Pennsylvania, whenever we went for a visit, she always had loads of goodies for us. I guess that's a thing all grandparents do. Spoil the grandchildren. Hey I couldn't complain. I remember the time she and my grandfather came to visit in Hanover, PA. I was only two years old. They had bought a large box of Jelly Belly jelly beans. We were sitting on the front porch eating them when I grabbed a black licorice one without realizing it. I took a bite and immediately my face turned sour. She looked at me and said "If you don't like it, just spit it out like this." She spit the one in her mouth over the porch pretty far. I was both surprised and impressed. I excitedly tried to replicate the feat, but had to do it on the front lawn. I thought that was pretty cool.
In the early 90s, my family took a summer vacation to Ocean City Maryland. As a kid I loved it there. I think I'll write a post about that in the future. Anyway, one year my grandparents came with us. It was me, my parents, my grandparents, Sarah, Tim, and baby Nathaniel (Stephen, Lydia, and Hannah weren't even in the picture yet). We spent a week in a rented beach house by the ocean. There were lots of things we did, but my grandmother was the one always willing to do what we liked. Whether it was collecting large seashells or little starfish, or building sand castles (moats and all), or even encouraging us to not be afraid of the large waves, we had a blast.
Another time, they came to visit us for a week in Abbottstown, PA (where I lived from age 2-12). The week took a sour turn when my sister got appendicitis and had to have her appendix removed. It was a blessing in disguise for my parents because they could be at the hospital with my sister while they took care of us boys and acted like normal grandparents through the whole ordeal.
Visiting the farm over the years, many memories had been made. When we were really little, Grandma played with us in a tractor tire sandbox. She told us where the kitties were hiding and even let us name them from time to time. And during campfires, she could make a pretty good S'more. Which was also fun to hear here say (S'more) because of her northern accent. In her later years, when she couldn't do much, you could tell by the smile on her face that whatever we did, whether it was catching fish that she got to eat, making her S'mores, laughing and having sparkler battles, or just being her grandchildren, she loved every minute.
And with that, I'll leave you with photos of my grandparents on their wedding day nearly 61 years ago.
So long for now, I'll see you both again one day.
