I guess you could call this an ode to Grandma, a tribute to the strength of an amazing woman, and to the gratitude I feel for everything she has been to me. Although she will never probably read this, I think its only fair to capture a true love story that she dictated to me a couple of weeks ago.
Its been a year to the day (yesterday though since its after 12) since my grandfather died, very suddenly last August. After 59 years of marriage my grandmother (I call her Podie so that will be the reference from this point on) said goodbye to her one true love, and had to venture out into the unknown, that of a widowed life. Every week she goes up the the cemetery where my grandfather lays, puts some fresh flowers in the vases, clears away the growth from his name plate, and tells him whats been happening. She says a prayer and neither cries, nor yells, but simply serenely gazes upon his grave with a peaceful face. I remember at the funeral watching her slowly stroke the face of my grandfather as he lay in the casket, her lips barely moving as she said her last goodbye to no one else but him. It was quite amazing, watching as a peace seemed to surround her, she seemed to float with a serenity that neither the rest of my grieving family, particularly my little crying cousin, seemed to have. Until recently I never fully appreciated the beauty of that scene, and I never grasped the deep strength and love that my Podie had towards my Gungie (my grandfather) until now.
I found out that they first met while she was working in her family store, and he a young lovesick puppy who came everyday to buy bread, even on the days his family didn't need any. Although he had a girlfriend at the time, a couple of looks from my Podie sent him flying high, and he fell in love with her. Podie said that she knew he was ok, because he was a "square", a good looking gentleman, someone who she knew she could trust. They got married and had kids, grand kids, living a full life in which family was always a top priority. To me it seems that "The Notebook" became alive through my grandparents, a true and real story of love.
And it culminates at what my Podie told me a couple of weeks ago. She said "You know, if there was a rich man who came and asked me to marry him I wouldn't. You know why? Because there will always be only one man in my life, and that is your Gungie. There was only one man in the world like him, he was special. And I will always love him, I could never love anyone else."
For not so sappy people like me, it blew me away. True love, here at its best, found in the love of my Podie and Gungie. Two ordinary people living a tough life, that reflects as best as anyone can express what love is. And it continues to amaze me, to see my Podie, a woman who has lost her one true love, continue to revel in the goodness of that relationship, of that friendship, of that love. She is neither consumed by brokenness, sadness, and by what she has lost, but instead hopes, perseveres and continues to bless God in all things. I only wish that I could have half her strength and faith.
It makes me wonder at the power of love, and how if this is simply an expression of human love, then how amazing must the love of Christ be for his people. If earthly devotion is manifested on such a level, how much more extravagant must the eternal devotion be to us?
It's all things I cannot fathom, and yet to see something so good in my Podie, and to know that better things await us, seems almost unbelievable.
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