February 15, 2009

• …I have a special Valentine. No, it is not one given to me by an adoring suitor, but it does tell of a love story that is dear to my heart.

  When my paternal grandfather died, I received a box of his personal possessions.

                                        

   This card was among them, and can you imagine how I loved reading the inscription on the front, written in Grandad’s handwriting: “This was the first valentine given to my darling Fay.” Then on the back he wrote, “This card was handed to Fay one morning behind the old round heater in the old block high school–perhaps 1922 or 1923. I was too backward to give it to her in public. Leonard” Above this note is Grandad’s original inscription, simply “Fay from Leonard.”

                                            

  My grandparents grew up and went through school together, and then continued on at the State Teachers’ College together.

                                           

  They married in 1928, just before the Depression; my dad, their only child, was born on Christmas Day, 1929, when there was a big snow on the ground. Grandmother’s father was a country doctor, and he delivered Dad while Grandad was out turkey hunting. He came in, proudly displaying a nice wild turkey, which the family ate that evening to celebrate the birth of the Savior and the birth of their son.

  Both of my grandparents were teachers, and Grandad was eventually the superintendent of the school where he gave Grandmother the card, in the 1930s. He spent two terms in the Missouri state legislature in the mid-1940s and then they moved to California because of the promise of better pay for teachers in that progressive state.

  I continue to be inspired by things they taught me, even though I was only 13 when Grandmother passed away. They believed in travel and took me on a wonderful trip when I was 11, camping our way across the Northwest and Canada. While I spent two months with my grandparents that summer, I had several opportunities to witness their still-fresh love for each other. One Sunday morning, Grandad and I were ready for church and had gone outside to bring the car around to the end of the front walk.

                                  

  When Grandmother stepped out of the front door, she looked at us and smiled radiantly, and Grandad whispered to me, “Isn’t she the prettiest thing you ever saw?” I can still see the look on his face as he watched Grandmother walk toward us. There was no mistaking the depth of their affection for each other.

  Only two short years later, my 62-year-old vibrant grandmother was walking down a sidewalk in Pasadena when she passed out. A brain tumor was discovered and surgery was attempted. Grandmother must have known that her condition was grave, because before she left for the hospital, she wrote a letter to my grandfather, telling him of simple, everyday things to be taken care of, and she ended by reminding him of her love for him. She never awoke from the surgery and lived only six months.The letter was also in the box with the valentine, treasured by Grandad until he died. They had enjoyed 36 years of marriage before Grandmother’s too-early death. The letter and the valentine are now my treasures, reminders of their long-ago love.

  For Valentine’s Day, 2009, we traveled to visit our little granddaughters, to get a dose of their love.

                             

  Poppy took us out for breakfast that morning to a wonderful place called Eggtc. Sarah and I loved the spinach crepes, and the little girls had pancakes. Poppy had a traditional ham and eggs plate. Then we got to see Emma’s Y team play basketball.

                             

   

  It just so happens that we also know the coach, for it is none other than our own Sarah.

                            

                             (Emma, far lower left, Sarah upper right!)

  The little girls of both teams gathered on the court and recited the YMCA’s rules of sportsmanship before play began, and then they ran up and down for an hour. Emma is good at defense!

  And earlier last week, we enjoyed our other two little valentines who spent a couple of days with us while their mommy attended a meeting in St. Louis.

                                  

   

  Addie Dear is almost 5 months. and I wish I could just keep her at this darling stage a little longer….she’s at the perfect age for cuddling, smiling and cooing.

                                 

  Wyatt took a break from playing with his machinery to investigate my set of little Russian nesting dolls.

  With valentines like these, who needs hearts and roses???? Hope your Valentine’s Day was sweet!

  • 7:45 pm
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