I spent the weekend at Richard's aunt and uncle's cabin in Donnelly. It was a retreat with some members of Richard's family including his mom and her inlaws. I'll admit I was a little nervous about it. But when my Friday departure was threatened by Eli getting sick on Thursday night, I realized how much I wanted to go.Fortunately he was feeling better Friday morning and I could entrust his recovery to my own dear mother and I left. The purpose of the weekend was to make preparations for an upcoming 80th birthday. I spent an extensive amount of time scanning old pictures for a slideshow of Grandpa Bird's life. I had the privilege of having his wife, Richard's grandmother close at hand along with two of his daughters and two daughters in law.
What a great experience this was for me. My own four biologic grandparents all passed away before I was a teenager. It has been so fun for me to have grandparents again through marriage.
As I scanned the pictures the women around me shared the stories and background. And although I know it sounds cliche, the people came alive to me.
This picture was my favorite. It is of Grandpa & Grandma Bird in 1949 before they were married. Also in the picture is Grandpa's sister, JoAnn. It just struck me that 60 years ago Ray & Larene were in love. Here they are almost exactly 60 years later still in love.
Talk about committment. I'm so grateful for the choices they made along the way that have directly affected my own life and I am so grateful to know them.
2 comments:
What a neat thing to see all of those pictures. Most all of my biological grandparents have passed away as well so it was great marrying in to the Bird family where they still have so many. I'm excited to see the rest of the pictures!
I think that may have been my favorite picture as well. I am very glad you were able to come up! It was fun to hear all of the stories.
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