A Sunday with Grandma. from Timothy Koide on Vimeo.
Like finding something after years of misplacement, my grandparents' stories never have to be about heroics or some extraordinary event to be significant. Their mere existence qualifies their tremendous value. They are always entertaining. And, although I have heard a lot of those stories, they still keep me at the edge of my seat wanting more. My grandparents are my heroes.
My conversations with them always wander into engaging tangents painted with the colorful regalia of past memories. This video, which features my maternal grandmother, is no exception to that. Grandma’s stories bounce from family memories, WWII era social commentary, her courtship with my granddad, music, and beyond.
I love my grandma. Perhaps it is because she reminds me so much of my own mother. Perhaps it is because she is generally so motherly. Perhaps, it is because her stories are always told with the same raised eyebrows, cute giggle, and smiling eyes. There is a sense of home in every one of them. Or, perhaps, the thing that impresses me and makes me feel a deep sense of reverence for my grandma is her undying love for my granddad. They have been married for 65 years now. No small feat.
This past Sunday I was able to see her, my mom, and my granddad, on an extended trip I had to take for work. Unfortunately, the visit was at a hospital. Nonetheless, we had a great time. After all, what better venue to see my grandma’s love for my granddad at work? At one point, in my granddad’s room, the classic song, “No Two People (Have Ever Been so in Love),” sung by Danny Kaye and Jane Wyman from Hans Christian Andersen, is playing on the big band radio station that my granddad likes. Grandma stares affectionately at him, as if the song is part of their life soundtrack. I thought this scene a rather touching and appropriate portrait of what they have become together.
What are your favorite grandparent stories?
wallace met yori at a church function on a wednesday.
ReplyDeleteby the following tuesday, wallace was down on his knee proposing.
a girl with some sense, yori respectfully declined.
wallace, never the quitter (he was a 442nd veteran, afterall) persisted.
one year, many flowers and five proposals later, yori was in love.
finally and wholeheartedly, she said "yes!"
in 2008, wallace and yori celebrated their 65th year together. they were just two months shy of their wedding anniversary before yori passed away.
all this grandpa told me in march, with tears in his eyes and a big goofy nostalgic smile on his 92-year-old face. it´s hard for me to remember just one meal when grandma and grandpa's bickering didn't dominate the conversation. but boy, how they loved.