Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Happy Valentine's Day


Today is Valentine's Day, so I'm featuring a very sweet photo of my grandparents asleep on a blanket.  This photo is precious to me for a number of reasons.  Perhaps if you look closely you may notice that they're probably not really sleeping, my grandmother has a curious smile on her face.  You may also notice that they're not really even in the same photo - Marymac cut out a photo of herself in a similar pose and pasted it next to my grandfather.  She was famous for this.  I can remember a number of pictures where she would cut people out or paste people in to make the perfect photo.

My grandparents were very much in love.  I remember my Aunt Marguerite (actually my great-aunt) talking about them.  Dick and Marymac were high school sweethearts, but Dick was a couple years younger than she was.  Marymac's father had a rule that the sisters could socialize with boys on the porch swing out in front of the house.  Marymac had several boys interested in her, so there was a rule that the first guy who came by after school was the one who could stay.  Dick was a couple years younger than Marymac, so the older guys with cars would sometimes beat Dick to the Goodner home.

Aunt Marguerite said that Dick would always look so dejected if he couldn't run there quick enough, so sometimes Marguerite would hang out and talk to him until the other guy left and her younger sister was free to talk to him.

One other sweet item of mention is that after they were married on October 23, 1936, my grandfather instituted a practice of celebrating what he called Monthiversaries.  On the 23rd of every month, he would get some kind of small gift or present for his wife.  Even when he was away at sea during World War II and Korea, he would send money and instructions for his father-in-law to deliver a note with flowers or some such thing for his beloved.

The glue on the photo has now gotten old and the two in the photo are not connected, but below you can see how my grandmother invented Photoshop.



So don't be bashful, take a cue from Dick and Marymac and let those you love know today!


6 comments:

Virgil S. said...

Looks to me like the same blanket. Ain't love grand? Monthiversarries reminds me of half birthdays, which are celebrated at my house.
I too am very much in love. For example, one day several months ago I was walking down an empty hall and began to think of my wife. Was so overcome by the emotion that I found myself sighing and staggering against the wall...
Happy Valentine's day to one and all!

Virgil S. said...

OK, I'm maybe overdoing it here, but I need to add another comment: All you married louts out there, when you have a nice thought about your wife, *tell her*. When you're taking a breather from a job you're doing around the house, go find her and give her a hug. Focus on what a wonderful lady she is.
BTW my sister, a sociologist, informs me that marriages in which the husband is a year or two younger than the wife are statistically more likely to be happy ones. Mabye applies to Dick and Marymac. My wife is about 5 years younger than me, but seems to me like she's at least 20 years younger. But we're still happy.

DAG said...

Nate,

I think your grandmother would be having a blast with Photoshop.

Greg L. said...

Not only does it look like the same blanket, it looks like the same trees and fence in the background. Although they don't line up properly in the amalgamated photo, the individual photos clearly show the same characteristics the three trees that appear in both individual photos. The two photos where definitely taken in the same place, but not the exact same angle. What a wonderfully creative woman she must have been.

Unknown said...

It's touching when you read about marriages in which the people still love each other after many years. I'm afraid that I've seen many longlasting unhappy marriages around me...

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