I was flipping through this scrapbook I made and it brought back lots of memories of my own wedding. I made the scrapbook in 2003 when my grandfather passed away. For his wake before the funeral I enlarged my favorite photos and afterwards I put them in the book with the words from his eulogy throughout. I used a Canson spiral bound scrapbook, spray adhesive and a silver gel pen.
Here is my grandfather and my little sister at my wedding:
My grandfather loved his rose garden. It was huge. For my wedding flowers he cut EVERY rose bud and flower from his garden. When he passed away, I went and dug up every rose bush and moved them to our NC house.
I opened another one of my shadow boxes to snap a photo……this is my great-great-grandmother’s garter belt! My Aunt Sharon gave it to me for my “old and blue” when I was married. My great-great-grandmother must have been a toothpick….I couldn’t even get it over my foot!
Mr. and Mrs. Lil Blue Boo…..married May 5, 2001 in the backyard of my childhood home:
Ok….I know I’ve been on the grandparents kick lately, but I miss them. I just wish they had lived long enough to meet my daughter and to see my brother and sister get married.
My grandfather was awesome. Seriously awesome.
If you get freaked out easily don’t read any further….but I have a quick story to tell:
My grandfather (“Paw-Paw”) fell walking his dog in 2003 and broke his hip. I was able to see him before he went into surgery and he assured me he would be fine and everything would be okay. After surgery he had complications and went downhill quickly. He was in intensive care for a while….he would drift in and out of consciousness and ask us “who is the young man at the end of the bed?” I don’t know maybe he was hallucinating….or was there someone waiting for him at the end of the bed…..
My grandfather passed away one night soon after that.
A few months later my step-grandmother Brownie passed away suddenly from a fall. The entire family packed up Paw-Paw and Brownie’s house and sold it. Soon after my sister called me:
Perry: Ash, Paw-Paw just called my phone.
Me: Shut the eff up. What are you talking about?
Perry: My cell phone rang….it said “PAW PAW Calling” and I didn’t answer it.
-silence-
Me: Well….did……he……. leave a message?
Perry: Um, yes……it was……..just static.
Me: Call the number back.
Perry: I did. The number is disconnected. It doesn’t exist.
When I saw the movie White Noise I had to walk out of the room. If you’ve seen it you know why.
Some other favorite photos from the book:
Chipping away at the Berlin Wall in 1989
Paw-Paw as a young man on the farm in Kansas.
Paw-paw was incredibly detailed and meticulous. He was mathematical and methodical. He was fanatical about documenting his family history (you can see some of that here in “Paid in flour and potatoes”). I’m the same way. We both majored in math. So did my dad. Funny how things happen.
