Although I have a gorgeous engagement that is due to grace the pages of the blog any day now...stay tuned for Brad & Kelly...I thought I would take today in a different direction and honor two people who were always so in love, my Papaw and Grandma. If you follow the blog, you know I've mentioned here and there that my Grandma passed away several years ago when I was in college, and my Papaw passed away a couple of years ago. Just before Papaw died, I had decided to move into the house that they raised my Dad and Uncle Rick in, and so the remodeling and ripping out of carpets, and painting the kitchen cabinets bright red came about! Papaw always had this one little room, where the washing machine and dryer are housed, that he had a substantial desk and small filing cabinet in. Because he had his own construction and electric business at one time, I assume he would call this his unofficial office. It was always a complete disaster, papers everywhere, envelopes and mail here and there, a hanful of number 2 pencils and a stash of rubber bands along with trinkets and odds and ends that most guys would have laying around. This is the room, that, neverfail...every Christmas, Papaw would go into his little office, get out the money Christmas cards, you know those old school little Christmas cards that had the little oval opening so you could see there was money inside?! He would get 4 of those out, address one to me and each of my sisters, and one to my parents. He would put in the bill, normally one we liked, and give them to us for Christmas along with the presents that Grandma would make us or buy us. I can still remember Papaw sitting in there looking over the lottery numbers he had written down from the drawing that night, or going over his calendar.
So this was the last room that we cleaned out after Papaw died, and actually, it's still mostly the same. We left the desk, the filing cabinet, his little stool that he sat on while at the desk. Many papers are still there, along with the stash of number 2 pencils. One night, I was sitting there going through papers, and I stumbled on an envelope that was getting old and you could tell it had been opened many times. Inside, I found several photos of my Grandma, looking beautiful as ever from when she was younger. She was laughing, smiling and radiating and she was gorgeous with her red lipsick and perfect curls. Most of the photos were of her and also a couple of my Dad and Uncle Rick as babies, but I came across a couple that just melted me. There were a handful of photos with Papaw and Grandma together, and they are so completely in love. The way he is looking at her, the way she is hugging back, the kisses! So gorgeous! Papaw was a pilot in the airforce, and according to the date on the back of a couple of these, suggested these were taken while they were probably engaged and just before they got married. They look like something from a movie where he's about to go off to the military and they are embracing like it may be the last time they see each other! It's completely adorable and I know my Papaw loved her. And she loved him. I know that through the years, they probably had there share of hard times, but I know that when Grandma was in the nursing home her last few months of being here, Papaw went to see her, every day, and he brought her dinner, so she wouldn't have to eat alone. Every day for a several months. He went to sit with her, and she never had to be alone. They were truly in love.
And isn't that what Valentine's Day is all about? Happy Valentine's Day...share it with someone you can't live without and enjoy being together.
