Conquering Vertigo

11-11-11

Today is my grandfather's birthday. He was one of the kindest, most honorable persons I have ever known. He died a couple of summers ago, and yet he is still with me. I hear his voice sometimes as I'm speaking, see his gestures in my own reflected movements. Everyone else notices him in my driving :-)

I am sad that he missed our wedding, yet he was there among the roses and under the pine trees. He helped create me, shape me, inform my thinking. My grandfather's profound investment in my life was present in our wedding vows.

I first met Jesus in my grandparents' home. Granddaddy would come home from his job at the church, singing a hymn. He taught me the "creatures" song, which the unlearned call The Doxology. He would have enjoyed Richard, laughed with him, and welcomed him warmly.

Also, he was in our wedding because my grandmother was there. Isn't she beautiful? Lovely inside and out. She participated in all the wedding weekend events, and came to the microphone during the ceremony, pronounced a blessing upon our marriage, and prayed for us.

I will call her today, and reminisce a little with her. She misses the love of her life, with whom she lived so happily for more than 60 years, and never more so than on his birthday.

There are some things about Richard that remind me of my grandfather. The kindness with which he interacts with me, the strength in his hands, the boundless enthusiasm for life, the laughing enjoyment of a good story, the love of baseball.

I wish they had been friends. Maybe through me they are.

posted by Woman In Love @ 6:35 AM