Friends...Countrymen...
May. 25th, 2009 10:39 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
centerspireHappy Memorial Day. "Regular" holidays are a little lost on me, as I have to work most of them. I spent 10 hours at work today finishing the last chapters of the first book of Percy Jackson and the Olympians. That said, I feel like today is the right day to share something very dear to me. Both of my grandparents on my father's side served in World War II. My Memaw was stationed in San Fransisco (she helped run the base movie theater. IKR!), and my Papaw was an airplane mechanic in Northern Africa.
I don't know when Papaw gave Memaw this locket, but it is an amazing piece. The design of the propeller and wings is so intricate. It's a beautiful piece and I love it so much, but what's inside is even more amazing.
That's my Memaw and Papaw. If these pictures weren't in here it would still be special to me. To know that my grandmother wore this locket while waiting for my grandfather to return from the war so they could get married gives me chills. Fate worked in their favor.
I don't ever remember a time when my grandparents were apart. They were the normal, happy couple I looked to when I needed an example of what love and marriage were about. In 2007, my grandparents died six days apart. My grandfather first, then my grandmother. As sad as that period was, how blessed they were to only be apart six days. The funeral director stopped by our house the day after Memaw died and said he was sure Papaw's first words to her were, "what took you so long?"
I called my roommate and asked for one thing. Go get my locket out of the safety deposit box. I had to have them near me in the weeks that followed. I wish I could wear this every day, but I'm mortally terrified that I will lose it. So, it mostly lives in my safe. When I'm missing them, I pull it out. It is quite simply my most prized possession. Today, I remember my grandparents.
I don't know when Papaw gave Memaw this locket, but it is an amazing piece. The design of the propeller and wings is so intricate. It's a beautiful piece and I love it so much, but what's inside is even more amazing.
That's my Memaw and Papaw. If these pictures weren't in here it would still be special to me. To know that my grandmother wore this locket while waiting for my grandfather to return from the war so they could get married gives me chills. Fate worked in their favor.
I don't ever remember a time when my grandparents were apart. They were the normal, happy couple I looked to when I needed an example of what love and marriage were about. In 2007, my grandparents died six days apart. My grandfather first, then my grandmother. As sad as that period was, how blessed they were to only be apart six days. The funeral director stopped by our house the day after Memaw died and said he was sure Papaw's first words to her were, "what took you so long?"
I called my roommate and asked for one thing. Go get my locket out of the safety deposit box. I had to have them near me in the weeks that followed. I wish I could wear this every day, but I'm mortally terrified that I will lose it. So, it mostly lives in my safe. When I'm missing them, I pull it out. It is quite simply my most prized possession. Today, I remember my grandparents.
