DESCRIPTION
I am very family oriented, we have five generations living on both sides of our family-and it is quite large-this submission is from my heart-it's about my grandparents. [823 words]
They met when she was 13 and he was 16 and were married not long after. They raised three boys and one girl, watched mutilples of grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and great-great-grandchildren come into this world, and had to stand helplessly by while some were ushered out of this world before their time, crushing the spirits of all who stood by newly formed graves. They watched the world advance medically, technologically, and educationally, while they watched the world demean itself morally, ethically, and spiritually. They survived a World War, the Great Depression, complete up-heavel of traditional values both at home and abroad. They remember hiding under the bed, contemplating the end of the world, while the horrific noise of the first aircraft they ever encountered soared overhead in the clear blue sky. They remember holding hands, gazing into each other's eyes, harding work, scrimping pennies, recycling because it was a necessatitiy not a hobby, and they remember love, loyalty, and stick-to-it-no-matter-what attitudes. They may not really understand DNA replication, or quantum physics, or insider trading. They do understand that you say what you mean, mean what you say, and do unto others as you want them to do unto you. They are members of their church, to which they gave money, time, labor, intellect, and allegiance. They raised their children in church , whether the children wanted the church or not. They took grandkids to Bible school during the summer, they taught Sunday School classes, sang specials, and led prayer services. They get angry with each other, with some family, and long-time friends. They are opinatied, vocal, and stubborn in their beliefs. They are demanding, overbearing, unreasonable, and intractable. They are lenient, forgiving, generous, educators, and loving. They spoiled us rotten, and spanked our backsides. They are the best and the worst of a generation that I can sympathize with, but not totally understand. They were raised by parents, stepparents, and at times, no parents. They had virtually no formal education, but have taught themselves through the years, both with books and by surviving life itself. They learned to use a reel to reel, a cassette recorder, a VCR, cable television, microwave oven, indoor plumbing, gas heat, air condition, and portable telephones. They have survived one of the most wondrous, horrendous, lives imaginable. He still believes the walk on the moon was manufactured in a television studio, and she believes it could be just the opposite. They still argue, make up, kiss, hold hands, and can't imagine life without the other. They are aging. Their bodies are wearing out with the passage of the decades, from genetically inherited illnesses, and due to the lasting effects of hard labor. They have fought back from bypass surgery, diabetes, cancer, snake bites, failing eyesight, dog attacks, and the heartbreak of having to slowly give up many of the things that made them who they were. She can no longer spend hours over tax returns for family and friends, or handle the family finances. He can no longer spend hours in the hot sun farming the land. She can no longer see to create the many clothes for her grandchildren, or their children or their children's children. He can no longer play his guitar and sing the songs of his faith without his hands cramping. They are the aging and the aged. They are the parents of my parent and I have wonderful and humorous memories of them and the lives we have shared. I listen to stories they tell about when they were young and foolish, and my heart is full of sadness for the ravages that time has taken on the bodies of these people. They are my heritage and my roots. They have passed on genes and customs, ideas and ideology. They raised a family, that grew and became parents and grandparents and great-grandparents. The circle of life spins ever faster and faster toward the final revolution. I wish I could stop the moments form slipping away so quickly. The only thing I can do is to hold fast to the best, gentle the worst, and never let the moments slip by unnoticed. I think the most treachous thing of all, would be to forget these people and their influence on the lives of myself and my family. They are my grandparents and I cannot even conceive of a day when I look out my window, see their home, and know they are no longer there. I refuse to think of the future in those terms. I will instead continue to remember helping Grannie make pie crust for lemon meringue pie for Sunday dinner, and I will remember singing loudly, if off key while Grandpa played guitar for Sunday "specials". In this way these two will always be young, vital, and alive. Their essence will remain what it was at the beginning. The joining of two souls into one, for all the generations who follow.
READER'S REVIEWS (3) DISCLAIMER: STORYMANIA DOES NOT PROVIDE AND IS NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR REVIEWS. ALL REVIEWS ARE PROVIDED BY NON-ASSOCIATED VISITORS, REGARDLESS OF THE WAY THEY CALL THEMSELVES.
"wow! that was great! " -- shawn.
"It was very touching! Brilliant piece!" -- Mulan.
"In times when family becomes less and less important in the eyes of our egotistical society, it is wonderful to see how someone cares so much about their relatives to immortalize them into such beautiful words. I felt as if I were a spectator to every moment in their lives. Brilliant!" -- Luis Felipe Moura, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil.
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