I have published this post before, but I'm sharing it again today in memory of my amazing Papaw.
He was a wonderful grandfather, father, husband, brother, friend, and uncle.
Who ever marries me has big shoes to grow into.
I love you, Papaw. You are the best!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
My Mamaw and Papaw have been married for eons.
Okay, well not eons.
Sixty-three years this November, to be exact.
That's more than double the whole time that I have been on this planet.
I have to get married tomorrow and live to be 91 in order to be married to someone that long.
Good thing I am planning to live to be 113...
Aside from the lengthy time my grandparents have been joined in holy matrimony, what is truly remarkable is how in love they still are with one another. I would go so far as to call them obsessed with one another. My Mamaw will "run" into the grocery store to pick up something and my Papaw will say he is going to wait in the car. Before too long, my Papaw has wondered into Food City to see if my Mamaw needs any help.
A few years ago my Dad and Papaw were looking at old family pictures. My Dad picked up a picture of my Mamaw taken when she was slightly younger than she is today. It was taken right about the time she and my grandfather got married.
My dad said, "Boy, Betty sure was awful pretty back then."
My Papaw looked my Dad square in the eye and said, "She is still awful pretty."
It isn't uncommon to walk into my grandparent's house and see them holding hands across the end table that sits between their recliners. If I had a quarter for every time I saw them steal a kiss as my Papaw empties the dishwasher and my Mamaw wipes down the kitchen counters I could make a hefty purchase. As a little girl I spent a lot of time at their house, nearly as much as at my own. I loved (and still do) being with them; they were, and still are, always having fun together. The fun is probably a little less exciting at 84 and 81, but it's still fun.
My Mamaw is always offering advice about love.
It is usually unsolicited-- but spot on. After being married for 63 years you figure it isn't just conjecture at this point. She actually knows what she is talking about. One of her recent gems of truth imparted during our last phone conversation was, "Love will just sneak up on you when you least expect it. That's what happened to me."
When my Mamaw met my Papaw, they were just Betty and James Orvil. Betty was actually on a date with another man. Betty and James kind of knew each other, both having grown up in a small farming community, but they weren't what one might call friendly. However, one afternoon James was driving past the school house and saw Betty getting on a pep bus to go watch a game and he was smitten. He followed the school bus to the game. Walked right up the bleachers to my Mamaw, who was sitting beside her date, and said, "Why don't you move his coat so I can sit beside you."
When my Papaw tells this story he just laughs. My Mamaw looks a little embarrassed, but haughty at the same time, like she is saying, "Well can you blame him? I'm a catch."
Obviously, Betty moves the coat and James sits down beside her.
I asked my Papaw once what he would have done if the bus had driven somewhere really far away, and not just a neighboring school.
He said, "Well, I would have kept following it, hoping I didn't run out of gas I guess."
The rest is history, or so I thought until recently.
Not to long after James whisked Betty away from her pep bus boyfriend he asked her "to go, as they called it back then, steady."
"Well, I said yes," said Mamaw. "But I didn't really mean it. I just didn't want to hurt his feelings. So I had been pretending to go steady with him, but my heart wasn't really in it, until one day when I was in town and heard that his sister was trying to fix him up with one of her friends. Well, I just decided then and there that would most certainly not do. I realized then that I was in love. It had just sneaked right up on me. That will happen to you too, Babes."
He was a wonderful grandfather, father, husband, brother, friend, and uncle.
Who ever marries me has big shoes to grow into.
I love you, Papaw. You are the best!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
My Mamaw and Papaw have been married for eons.
Okay, well not eons.
Sixty-three years this November, to be exact.
That's more than double the whole time that I have been on this planet.
I have to get married tomorrow and live to be 91 in order to be married to someone that long.
Good thing I am planning to live to be 113...
Aside from the lengthy time my grandparents have been joined in holy matrimony, what is truly remarkable is how in love they still are with one another. I would go so far as to call them obsessed with one another. My Mamaw will "run" into the grocery store to pick up something and my Papaw will say he is going to wait in the car. Before too long, my Papaw has wondered into Food City to see if my Mamaw needs any help.
A few years ago my Dad and Papaw were looking at old family pictures. My Dad picked up a picture of my Mamaw taken when she was slightly younger than she is today. It was taken right about the time she and my grandfather got married.
My dad said, "Boy, Betty sure was awful pretty back then."
My Papaw looked my Dad square in the eye and said, "She is still awful pretty."
It isn't uncommon to walk into my grandparent's house and see them holding hands across the end table that sits between their recliners. If I had a quarter for every time I saw them steal a kiss as my Papaw empties the dishwasher and my Mamaw wipes down the kitchen counters I could make a hefty purchase. As a little girl I spent a lot of time at their house, nearly as much as at my own. I loved (and still do) being with them; they were, and still are, always having fun together. The fun is probably a little less exciting at 84 and 81, but it's still fun.
My Mamaw is always offering advice about love.
It is usually unsolicited-- but spot on. After being married for 63 years you figure it isn't just conjecture at this point. She actually knows what she is talking about. One of her recent gems of truth imparted during our last phone conversation was, "Love will just sneak up on you when you least expect it. That's what happened to me."
When my Mamaw met my Papaw, they were just Betty and James Orvil. Betty was actually on a date with another man. Betty and James kind of knew each other, both having grown up in a small farming community, but they weren't what one might call friendly. However, one afternoon James was driving past the school house and saw Betty getting on a pep bus to go watch a game and he was smitten. He followed the school bus to the game. Walked right up the bleachers to my Mamaw, who was sitting beside her date, and said, "Why don't you move his coat so I can sit beside you."
When my Papaw tells this story he just laughs. My Mamaw looks a little embarrassed, but haughty at the same time, like she is saying, "Well can you blame him? I'm a catch."
Obviously, Betty moves the coat and James sits down beside her.
I asked my Papaw once what he would have done if the bus had driven somewhere really far away, and not just a neighboring school.
He said, "Well, I would have kept following it, hoping I didn't run out of gas I guess."
The rest is history, or so I thought until recently.
Not to long after James whisked Betty away from her pep bus boyfriend he asked her "to go, as they called it back then, steady."
"Well, I said yes," said Mamaw. "But I didn't really mean it. I just didn't want to hurt his feelings. So I had been pretending to go steady with him, but my heart wasn't really in it, until one day when I was in town and heard that his sister was trying to fix him up with one of her friends. Well, I just decided then and there that would most certainly not do. I realized then that I was in love. It had just sneaked right up on me. That will happen to you too, Babes."
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