Legacy of Love

I want to introduce you to my Grandma and Grandpa. Their love and their life of love was a testament to me as I grew up, and my mind always remembers them during Valentine's season, since they got married on Valentine's Day. Today I'm pondering the fragility of life, and realizing that we all need to show our loved ones how special they are to us, because we never know how long we'll have them near.

Her mother was a God-fearing, schoolteacher married to a man who drank too much and had promised his future wife he would go to church if they got married...but never did. I remember interviewing Grandma once for a school project. She said she would like to ask her father, "Why did you ever get married, and why did you have children?" I sensed the deep family pain that my Grandma had grown up with. But all the years I knew her, she exhibited great love which sprang from her belief in God's great gift of Grace through His Son. 

He was the younger brother in a big family. He was always telling jokes and pulling pranks. Grandpa always had a new joke he'd learn to tell us grandkids. I remember him telling us stories of his childhood; the time he and his friends filled a brown grocery bag with overripe tomatoes from the garden, placed them on a crabby neighbors' step, lit it on fire and then rang the doorbell. The lady came out, stomped the bag to put out the fire, and covered herself with rotten tomato guts. He could tell a story with as much verve as a stage actor...always the life of the party.

He was wowed by her beauty and her long, shapely legs. She knew she'd found a man that loved the Lord and would be loyal to her...very different from her father. They wed, and soon after, he was sent to New Guinea to serve his country.

In his journal, he wrote about his loneliness for her, the friends he made with the other soldiers, his camp, his duties, his struggles.

She was at home with the other wartime wives, waging her own challenges...

Grandma had her first child, my mom, all by herself. Grandpa didn't get to see her till she was two years old. How painful that must have been for both of them. I cannot imagine.

Through their years of marriage, they lived in no less than 20 houses in many different states. He was a salesman and an entrepreneur. There were so many new opportunities for him to experience. They made lifelong friends wherever they went. He had the gift of friendliness and laughter, she, the gift of caring and hospitality. They raised three children together.

He was a golfer, she a sewer. Wherever they went...these hobbies went with them.

  

He taught me to love sardines and butterscotch pudding, she taught me to knit and lay out a pattern.

  

They always had time for me, for others. They had big hearts. Not huge ambitions. Just the simple mantra to love God and love others.

They had much pain through the years...challenges with jobs, failed enterprises, challenges with loved ones. Their biggest hurt came when their beloved son was killed in a motorcycle accident while they were on a trip of a lifetime to the Holy Land. Their pastor shared the news with them when they were on the Sea of Galilee.

Suffering. Pain. The Lord is acquainted with grief, a man of sorrows.

Love is not all happy. It's hard. It's painful.

But their love endured. 

Even though her mind was starting to decline, He still wanted to sit across the from table from her. "I still like looking at my wife," he told my mom before they left on the trip down south that would eventually be their last.

They were heading down south to escape the winter. They were looking forward to visiting Billy Graham's training center, The Cove. They had loved his message of simple Grace that he had preached through the years.

After they checked into their hotel, fondly remembered by the front lobby receptionist, they headed to the local restaurant for a bit of supper. He cajoled the waitress, as usual, and made another friend.

After supper, they made their way hand-in-hand across the busy street. Unfortunately, they were struck by a hit and run driver, who the locals guessed was on a drug run. The police didn't find the driver and vehicle till a week later, as he was cutting up the car and disposing of it. He served one year.

It was hard for all of us. When evil comes swooping in to take something precious from you. When this earth gets heavy with worries and sufferings. But we were able to rest in the fact that they knew where they were going. They knew Who they were going to.

And they went together...to reunite with loved ones, with their son.

It was January, a couple weeks shy of their 60th wedding anniversary...on Valentine's Day.

This post isn't a Hallmark Valentine's card. It's way deeper. Because love is so much more....It's romance and flutters, and also deep pain through tragedy. It's commitment and endurance.

I'm so glad my Grandparents shared their legacy of love with us, and everyone they came in contact with. It's a challenge I want to live up to. Real love is not easy. Life isn't easy. I'm so thankful for good examples of Love.

 

Comments

[Maria]

This is beautiful. Your family is a good example of love. Your grandparents would be proud.

[Molly Fredrickson]

Yep, tears. Marriage= a decision, a commitment, a sacrifice, a life long journey, an adventure, not for the faint of heart. Good words sis!

[Lora Bloomquist]

Thanks, Maria:')

[Lora Bloomquist]

Thanks, sis. It's the trenches, some days...

[Sue Johnson]

Such wonderful words about your Gma and Gpa. God is a God of love and always plans how families are put together. Glad to have known them and your whole family!

[Lora Bloomquist]

Thanks so much, Sue.

[Donna Engstrom]

First time I have seen Sue's baby picture. I'm so thankful for all the memories. We are coming up on 50 years of friendship with your parents.
It's a wonderful gift of friendship. I pray for God's continued blessings on our friendship and continued blessing on their wonderful family.
Love you!!!!
P & D