Grandpa and Grandma

Grandma died when I was six. That didn't leave much time to get to know her, but I have a few memories I will share later. Grandpa was another story. He lived to see me graduate from high school, marry and have a child. I loved Grandpa.

I think it was winter. I remember taking off my heavy coat and walking into the living room. I was cold. The pattern on the rug always fascinated me. I had never seen any other rug with patterns. Ours at home was just an ordinary rug, kind of gold in color, but Grandpa's rug was red with gold swirls, green leaves, and black paisley designs. When I twirled around in a circle, with my arms held out as if I were walking on a type rope, the pattern would merge into one single red color. Then when I was too dizzy to twirl anymore, the rug would move by itself and the colors would un-merge until the returned to normal. If I twirled long enough...I landed on my behind.

Grandpa didn't seem to mind me twirling. When I was too dizzy to twirl anymore, I would ask him questions or get him to tell me stories. "Tell me about when you were young."

Grandpa paused for a moment, then shook his head. "I was a young man when I came here from Mississippi. I walked down the road...Main Street, until it ended and turned into dirt. Then I decided it would be a good place to open a grocery store, so I rented a building and went to work. It wasn't a very big store but it was enough. Later, when Mary's dad decided to go back to the old country, he sold me his store and we lived there for a long time, over the store, Mary and me and the children."

"Why did her daddy leave?" I asked.

"Back in them days, some people came to American to get rich. He left his wife and other children and brought "Marie" with him to America. He opened a store and when he decided he had enough money, he told her that he was going back to the old country. Only she didn't want to go. She had grown up here, and she liked it here." He smiled. "It wasn't proper for a young lady to stay in a foreign country by herself, so he told her she could only stay if she was married. So she married me." He laughed. "I think she fell in love with my voice before she had even met me, but when we met, well, I wasn't too sure she really liked me at first. It took a long time to get her to say yes. Sometimes I wonder if she would have married me if her dad hadn't been leaving."

I look at Grandma's wedding picture. It was taken around 1918. She was 18 years old and wore a dress that came just above her ankles. It had long sleeves and was covered in lace and pearls. Her veil fit onto a circular piece with small white flowers. The material hung to the floor. It looks expensive and elaborate for 1918. I saw my mother's wedding dress in a picture...she wore a white suite. Grandma's dress looks "fashionable". Grandpa is wearing a suite. He stands a full head taller than she and his hair has this little wave. He is not smiling, but Grandma looks radiant. If you can tell anything from a wedding picture...I think she was happy.

Of course if you really want to know, maybe you should ask one of her 9 children.