I learned so much about marriage from my grandparents. They were truly one, always thinking of the other. My grandfather never left the house without kissing my grandmother goodbye. He was 6ft and she was 4’10”, so that kiss was usually on her forehead. I have often wondered if her soul stopped by his bed to say goodbye the night she died.
At the funeral home as he sat by her side in his wheelchair, I heard him whisper, “my pretty, pretty, girl, you were always my pretty girl.” That made me cry and I told my husband, “such love, he still sees her the way he saw her when they courted.”
Lovely story and tribute to human love.
That is so beautiful. You were so lucky to have an example of a stable, strong marriage. I’m envious:)
My father’s parents died before I was born, so I never knew anything about them. I’ve never even seen a picture of them and I will turn 49 years old next month.
My mother’s parents were married for several decades. In fact, my grandfather died only five months before my dad.
My grandfather was a good man but, sadly, he was also an alcoholic. My mother has told stories about how violent he could be when he was drunk. I could tell you some horror stories.
My grandmother was a faithful Christian and stayed with him until about two years before his death. Shortly after she moved out, he was diagnosed with terminal cancer. She moved back home and took care of him.
Thankfully, before his death, he changed his ways, stopped drinking and got saved. That was a huge relief to my grandmother, my mother and her brothers and sisters. He would even preach to his drinking buddies who would visit him, lol. He died with a clean conscience.
I am disabled, so I live with my mother to help her out and because it makes financial sense for us to share expenses.
Several years ago, we were living in a house behind my grandmother’s. One Sunday before Labor Day, my mother and her siblings visited my grandmother. It was very unusual for all four of them to be able to visit my grandmother on the same day due to their schedules.
They were sitting in my grandmother’s den talking about different subjects when, unexpectedly, my grandmother said calmly “I’m ready to go now.”
They didn’t know what to make of her statement and didn’t really think much of it so they kept up their conversations.
The next day, my grandmother died suddenly and unexpectedly. In the days after her death, my mother and aunt remembered those words and concluded that she was telling them that she was ready to die. We comforted ourselves in the fact that she seemed to be happy and peaceful when she made that statement. She knew.
I remember a strange incident a few weeks before my father’s death. I was the youngest and his “little girl”. One night, shortly before bedtime, my father called me to come into my parents’ bedroom. I came and I was surprised to see tears in his eyes. He sat me on the bed and hugged me tightly. He started speaking of his deceased parents and how much he missed them, which shocked me because that’s the first time that he had ever spoken of them. He also mentioned his deceased brother, who had also died before my birth.
I was a young child and didn’t exactly know what to say, so I just hugged him back and listened to him. His actions that night were so unusual and made me a bit scared. I stayed with him for a while then he sent me to bed because it was a school night. A few weeks later, he was dead. I’ve often wondered if he knew or suspected that he was about to die because he was definitely not one to get emotional.
Your grandparent’s story really made my night:) You were very lucky to have such a loving and stable example of marriage in your life. I had to grin when I read that your grandmother was 4’10” because that’s my height:)
Thanks again for the touching story!