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 F 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? (silly question right?)
Perry: Yeeesssss......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.
Me: Shut the F 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? (silly question right?)
Perry: Yeeesssss......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.
Ashley!!!
ReplyDeleteAmazing post. I am so sorry your granparents didn't get to meet your little girl.
I am so in shock about the phone call. That is so crazy! I feel he was letting you two know he was ok and just wanted to check in one last time.
Stories like these are so incredible.
Thanks for sharing.
I sympathize with you, wishing your grandparents could have met your daughter. I feel the same about my grandmothers.
ReplyDeleteFirst time I'm leaving a comment on your blog -- I enjoyed the photos of your grandfather. Thank you for sharing your stories. My husband, son, and I live in the house my grandparents built in 1942so I think about my Grandma and Grandpa all the time too!
ReplyDeleteYou were very luck to have met your grandfather. Mine passed away when I was 3 months old, he only knew me through photographs because at the time he lived in Mexico. My mother swears that she can hear him layering bricks whenever we stay at the house he built in Mexico. i think its their way of saying we'll be okay. :)
ReplyDeleteHe sounds like an amazing man. It's really nice that his legacy gets to live on through you!
ReplyDeleteUhm, how crazy is that phone call!!
Such a touching and wonderful story! Isn't crazy how simple gestures, like cutting his roses for your wedding, mean so much to us?
ReplyDeleteIt must be something in the air today. Your blog was the second one I read with a story about grandpas. (Junkfest) was the other one. That is an amazing story about the phone call. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteSo sweet Ashley. Thanks for sharing. I miss my grandmother and for months after she died I could walk down a hallway or into a room (that she had never been to) and smell her perfume. It was like she was with me. Sometimes the smell would hit me and almost bring me to my knees with emotion.
ReplyDeleteLove you and now you have made me cry :) Good tears...
XOXO-
Wow! The phone story gave me chills!! I am so excited I won the pattern giveaway! I can't wait to make sone clothes. I am nervous, though. Thanks again!!
ReplyDeletethanks for the giveaway over at the benner daily!
ReplyDeleteAshley, that is a gorgeous wedding picture! You two look so great together, and I love the cake too.
ReplyDeleteWow. Great post. Thank you for sharing. :)
ReplyDeleteThat is a crazy story about your grandpa. I was actually at my grandma's funeral this past weekend and my aunt got a call from my grandpa (who died 4 years ago). She didn't answer it either. Since when did people who have passed on start using technology to communicate :) Crazy stuff!!!
ReplyDeleteOk, that story about Paw Paw calling gave me the chills...still have them. Crazy!!!
ReplyDeleteYou always have great memories and stories to tell! I hope you keep a journal of them!
ReplyDeletegoosebumps!!! My grandfather was killed a year ago(oct. 11th) and I kept getting emails from him for a few days afterwards. It was really creepy!
ReplyDeleteI do love all of your family stories though!
I have goosebumps!!
ReplyDeleteMy grandparents on both sides passed away when I was very young. The day Chris and I were married, my father said he saw NaNa & Babcia (I'm Polish) watching the ceremony. I get teary eyed just typing this!
Love your story - thanks for sharing :)
p.s. Mr. & Mrs. Lil Blue Boo are gorgeous!!!!
Wow! Amazing post! The story of the cell phone is crazy, I got goosebunmps. Wow! I need to rent that movie now, because I'm very curious.
ReplyDeleteI love the wedding photo. It's so timeless!
When my grandmother died my aunts put a quarter in her casket at the wake. That same day my aunts cell phone rang and she avoided an accident reaching for the phone. She doesn't know who was calling, but believes Nana was trying to prevent uncertain harm. Very emotional, but cool at the same time. Loved reading your story.
ReplyDeleteOK - your story gave me chills too.... About 5 years after my PaPa died - the phone rang here at home with his name - on the screen... I freaked - didn't answer and then the message started... it was my grandma. I picked up the phone so fast - she said that she still loved to see his name on the bill and just didn't have the heart to have the phone company take it off...
ReplyDeleteWe both laughed and laughed... and she said - you know he hated the phone - it would have been really funny if he called from Heaven on it!
OK - your story gave me chills too.... About 5 years after my PaPa died - the phone rang here at home with his name - on the screen... I freaked - didn't answer and then the message started... it was my grandma. I picked up the phone so fast - she said that she still loved to see his name on the bill and just didn't have the heart to have the phone company take it off...
ReplyDeleteWe both laughed and laughed... and she said - you know he hated the phone - it would have been really funny if he called from Heaven on it!
I just discovered your blog yesterday and I've been reading since. Your album for your Paw-Paw is beautiful and your story about him calling your sister gave me chills.
ReplyDeleteWhat a sweet book and you are a gorgeous couple!!
ReplyDeleteWOW goosebumps...next time Paw-paw calls...will ya'll answer it? That's pretty awesome.
ReplyDeleteI think we can never forget those we love so dearly, like grandparents. My maternal grandma died when I was only nine years old and to this day I miss her greatly. I also wished she could could have seen how I turned out, been there for my college graduation, wedding and birth of my two beautiful kiddos. In part I know she was watching me from where ever she is. Still does.
ReplyDeletebtw- the phone call, very interesting. I remember when my uncle (paternal side) died of cancer (he was only 15 and I was about 12 at the time) my grandmother called my great-grandmother to tell her the sad news...her response was "I already know." My uncle had visited her in a dream she had the night he died and said his goodbyes. -Chills-
I sympathize with you...my gramma passed away suddenly after a fall and never got to meet my boys. I know she would have adored them, and vice versa!
ReplyDeleteWow! I'm calling my Paw-Paw right now. He and my grandmother(mom's parents) are still living and healthy. But we really never know do we? It does give me hope though, and reaffirms my faith, that this isn't it. The book is wonderful. Your children will be glad you have put it together.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful post. I love all of the pictures! He sounds like a fabulous grandfather. Thank you for sharing.
ReplyDeletePS...I love your blog!
im a super close to my grandparents too! thank you for sharing some of your memories with us:) i have seen white noise...way creepy
ReplyDeleteSounds like he was a really neat person who lived an interesting life. I think I saw White Noise, but I don't remember much from it. I think it's really neat that your family has your great great grandmother's garter belt!
ReplyDeleteOmg I should NOT have read that. Then my idiot self kept reading saw the movie name... the PREVIEWS gave me nightmares for weeks.
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry about your paw-paw. I always wanted a grandpa and yours sounds absoluely perfect.
My father in law (53yrs) fell the height of a 2 story building and while in the ICU, he was seeing dogs and was angry that the hospital staff let them in. He also said that one of his nurses took him in a wheelchair and they went for a drive and someone was chasing them down the street. Later we found out that she walked him around the garden for some fresh air, lol.
My maternal grandfather lived in CT, we are in NC, so we didn't get to see more than 1 (maybe 2) times a year growing up. When I think of him, I remember his smile. It was GREAT. By the time my oldest son was born, he was in a nursing home, and my grandparents had moved to Utah, so it had been even longer since I had seen him. He was suffering from Parkinson's along with other health issues. His mind wasn't as strong, but my grandmother told me he was so proud of his first grandchild. He had a picture by his bed side when he passed away shortly after. About a month after he passed, I took a nap with my new baby on the couch. I had a dream that he was standing beside me at the couch and reached out for my son. I handed him my baby and he held him so closely. He talked to him, kissed him and then handed him back. I woke up crying and had to call my mother immediately. I do miss him.
ReplyDelete