Embracing these Moments

I have set my summer goal. One, which I believe will bring many blessings. I am starting to realize my grandparents are getting older and older by the day, and there is nothing more satisfying to them than my presence and interest in their lives. I fear that this may be the last summer I might ever have with the both of them, so I want to embrace ever moment I can with those two inspirational and captivating people. I want to take advantage of the last moments I have with them by actually getting to REALLY know them. I have realized that I don’t know the great details of their life, but yet they know everything about mine. They are incredible people, who have done incredible things in their long lifetimes. I yearn to know grandma Virginia and about how smart she was growing up and what makes her passionate. I yearn to know my grandpa Blaine and his accomplishments, I want to spend hours talking with him staring into his crystal blue eyes. Each one of them is so different, but they make such a great fit! We are celebrating their 60^th anniversary in just a few days and I cannot believe they have been together for so long. They have developed a life together; I want to know everything about that life. So that is where I started…where their lives together began.

She grew up in Pateros, WA.

He was from Winthrop, WA (about a 45 minute drive).

They ended up at WSU.

She was in a sorority.

He was in a fraternity.

He had crystal blue eyes.

She had platinum blonde hair.

Their moms knew each other.

Her mom told her about him.

His mom told him about her.

She played cornet.

He played trombone.

He asked her out, she said no.

He said, “She was always going out on dates! I never could get a chance with her!” I laughed and asked how it finally happened, my grandpa told me “ I finally just decided to give up, we had never even met, our moms just wanted us to see if it could work, but she was always busy so I left it at that and knew that I didn’t have a chance.” I asked grandma how it finally ended up happening, she said, “Well, my friend kept telling me about this handsome trombone player that sat behind her with these crystal blue eyes and I eventually grew very interested. One day, we had a park day for the sophomores, and we were playing a game called 3-D and I saw his crystal blue eyes and knew it was the guy. I decided to run in front of him and introduce myself.” I started to smile when grandpa jumped in,” I had no idea who this platinum blonde little thing was, but she knew my name and I was fine with that. “ Eventually they started to get to know each other. My grandma told me that my grandpa took her out on her 21^st birthday (I was excited to hear this, because my grandparents are extremely conservative!). She said that my grandpa got her a drink called a “whiskey sour”; he said it was the only thing that tasted good with alcohol. My grandma made me laugh when she told me that after she drank it, a guy came up to her and asked her to dance and they both ended up falling over…She says that was the last time she drank. She did admit to spiking a drink at a sorority function they had, she just started to laugh. I don’t know if I have ever seen my grandma laugh before, it felt good to be laughing with her.

They eventually fell in love and got married June 18, 1949. She studied bacteria and public health and graduated as a bacteriologist. I was so surprised that I did not even know what my grandparents studied in school! He ended up graduating from U of A with a degree in agriculture engineering, to be honest I have never heard of either of those degrees, but that is what makes learning about them so interesting! I am learning, and at the same time experiencing the joy as they reminisce on their lives together. I am excited about this opportunity to sit and learn about the wisdom and history that comes from the people who have made my life possible.