A Love Story

A story I love to share.

Recently I read a blog about an old high school sweater that belonged to a loved one that passed away. If you want to check it out you can find it here A Collection Of This And That. I loved the sweater and I loved the story behind it. Dayle mentioned she likes to think of all the good memories her loved one had in that sweater. It got me thinking about the memories I ask my grandparents to share with me. I love asking them to tell me stories from their youth. I treasure those stories just as much as I treasure the stories on my bookshelves.

My favorite story ever is how my Grandparents met. They have a Storybook Romance.

My Grandpa just finished college at Ohio Northern and had lined up an interview for a teaching position in Kalida, Ohio. When mapping out his trip he made an error and mapped his trip to Clyde, Ohio. (they sound similar) He drove all the way to Clyde and showed up on time for his interview only to be told that he was at the wrong school and worse the wrong town. Haha! Fortunately, Clyde just happened to have an opening for a Health & Physical Education teacher. My Grandpa interviewed and he got the job.

Meanwhile, my Grandma who is from a large family (she has 10 other siblings) was working as a waitress at the local diner, Bechlers. Next to the restaurant and still stands today is the Winesburg Inn. Grandpa stayed there while searching for a place to live.

Grandpa would go into Bechlers and eat dinner and Grandma would wait on him. My Grandpa always laughs because he said my Grandma would put her hand on his shoulder to ask if everything was okay with his meal. (she always blushes and denies this accusation my Grandpa makes) Finally, Grandpa asked Grandma on a date and they only dated a whopping 3 months. My Grandpa popped the question in the car one night when he was dropping her off from a date.

My Grandparents are still happily married today! I asked my Grandma how she knew Grandpa was the one and she answered very matter of fact “I sat in the middle of the bench seat right next to him in the car, I never felt comfortable to do that with anyone” haha!

Their love story is my favorite story to hear and tell.

I originally was going to end the blog there but, I felt necessary to explain to the world how much I love my Grandparents! My Grandparents are the glue that binds my whole family. They had 3 kids. Robert, Paul (my dad), and Ann and of course they all had children. I am the oldest grandchild of 11. We spend every Sunday at my Grandparents house. It makes for a loud house full of laughter and multiple people talking at once. However, throughout the week it isn’t uncommon for any of us to stop over on multiple occasions to visit for an hour or two. When I go there one of my cousins are usually there too. Especially now that some of the younger ones are able to drive. Then sometimes my cousins and I all get together and plan a surprise visit. They stay up and watch the 11:00 o’clock news so a few months ago we all drove over at 10:00 and surprised them! They loved it! We stayed till about midnight and even then my Grandma was saying “you kids don’t have to rush out, we stay up pretty late.” My Grandparents are the ones who introduced me to God. They are the ones who taught me that it is okay to laugh at myself when I make a mistake. They are my biggest supporters. Even now typing this out I get teary eyed just because I love them that much! I am so incredibly lucky to have them in my life.

When I was little I was kind of scared of my Great Grandparents. I didn’t see them often and my one Great Grandma had her leg amputated so for a 6 year old that was a bit much ha. I didn’t want my son to be like that around my Grandparents. He isn’t! He is obsessed with them haha probably just as much as I am. When we pull into their house he squeals and bounces in his seat. They adore my son (at times I think they want to see him more than they want to see me and I get jealous haha).  I just can’t stress how much I love those two people! If you have Grandparents or older relatives, take the time to ask them stories from when they were younger! You never know what great story they might have to share!

 

Jessilyn

My Grandparents and I when I was blonde and pregnant ha.

Christmas caroling when my brother was home from the Marines.

Elsie & Ralph

Grandpie and Max in the garden

In my life I love you more

I have been listening to a lot of Beatles today. Particularly I have been replaying the song…

In My Life

There are places I remember
All my life, though some have changed
Some forever not for better
Some have gone and some remain
All these places have their moments
With lovers and friends I still can recall
Some are dead and some are living
In my life I've loved them all

But of all these friends and lovers
There is no one compares with you
And these memories lose their meaning
When I think of love as something new
Though I know I'll never lose affection
For people and things that went before
I know I'll often stop and think about them
In my life I love you more

Though I know I'll never lose affection
For people and things that went before
I know I'll often stop and think about them
In my life I love you more
In my life I love you more

Although I have heard this song countless times and I know the lyrics by heart it seemed the message really struck me today. I mourn over the past and I seem to struggle with allowing myself to let it go. However, to me I guess this song basically says that at one point in time you have loved all these people. Whether its friends you have feuded with or lovers you have lost. At one point in time you loved them all and your love for them was real. I like this song because now being a mother I think of my son when it comes to the part where it says…

But of all these friends and lovers
There is no one compares with you
And these memories lose their meaning
When I think of love as something new
Though I know I'll never lose affection
For people and things that went before
I know I'll often stop and think about them
In my life I love you more

I am sure he didn’t mean it the way I am taking it but, I believe that is the beauty of music. Music is meant for the listener to enjoy and interrupt the way they see fit. When I think of how much I love my son it is very obvious to me I have never loved a friend nor a lover as much as I love my child. Although I am still friends with some people and perhaps I occasionally (more times than not) cling to old memories of relationships nothing will come close to the love I have for Max. After thinking this I saw a glimmer of hope for my future thoughts. I can’t be upset with what I have had and what I have lost. It is life and it happens. I think I have wonderful friends now who I share a very real bond with and as far as a partner... well if he is out there then I think it will happen when it should. I can’t keep moping around and feeding my depression with thoughts of the past. It was good when it was good and that is nice. It is the past. The one thing that will always be constant is the love I have and receive from my child. I have a son who runs to me when I get home from work. I have my little guy to cuddle with and watch Bubble Guppies. I have someone to kiss goodnight for as long as he will let me! I am beyond thankful for that! In my life I love you more, Maximus James.

Worrying Fans

Worry.

A favorite Bible verse of mine is Philippians 4:6-7

Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. ⁷ Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.

I love that in the good word God gives us the option to let go of worry. Instead of worrying give your worries to God and allow him to bear the load. This is much easier said than done though. It is nice to know that I can pray and I can hand my problems to God but, trusting is the hard part.

Recently, my son has developed a limp. Back in May on Mother’s Day my grandma made mention of it and I chalked it up as him playing in the grass and the ground was uneven. On Father’s Day ironically enough my other grandma asked me if I thought Max was limping, this time though he was in the living room. After watching him closely I could now see the slight limp that was obvious to my grandmothers. Since that day the limp seems to be getting worse. Last Saturday when he got out of bed he couldn’t stand on it and almost fell and continued to limp. I took him to the hospital in hopes that maybe they would be able to explain this limp. They did x-rays and those all came out great. They can’t explain his limp and suggested I follow up with my Dr. to see if they would like to send him to get more test.

More test… this is where I swallow hard and try not to throw up or cry. When my son was born he was big and healthy. He immediately held his head up and I was a proud momma. I have a strong guy! Now seeing my little bug limp: ( I just want to hold him and never put him down. I noticed he is tripping a lot more as well. Of course the internet is full of the worst case scenario but, being the worry wart I am that is all I can focus on.  I want answers or I want it to go away. My friend has a son who was born with a heart problem. He has had multiple surgeries; life flighted, the whole 9 yards. I always think to myself “I couldn’t imagine being her.” Not that my son is ill but the worry I have now has to be her life non-stop and I still keep thinking “I couldn’t imagine being her.”  I don’t want this to be a symptom of an underlying problem. Our town currently has a stigma of have a cancer cluster, I don’t want that to be it. I don’t want a brain problem or anything. I just want my son to be healthy always. The sniffles…a cough…a slight fever…I can deal with that. An unexplained limp that keeps getting worse…I can’t handle that. So I will try to give my worry to God but I know I will worry myself sick until I have an answer.

Needless to say I find myself wanting God when a storm comes. I am too self-absorbed to remember prayer every night when life is good and I am too tired to wake up on Sunday morning when I just had a blast out the night before. Now I’m worried and I am fearful and now I want God to help. I want to give my worry to God to find peace. Although I know my God doesn’t stop loving me it’s obvious to me that I am more of a fan of Jesus Christ than a follower. I need to be a follower.