Memories

Memories linger. Meet Bill and Jean. These people are Michelle's grandparents and Brandon and Jordan's great-grandparents.

Bill died when he was 43 years old of a heart condition. I was never told the name of the condition but apparently his arteries grew in, instead of out. No one knew back then that he even had a heart condition. He lived on the outskirts of a small village and had walked the distance of about four city blocks to the Post Office to get the mail. He collapsed beside an old oak tree at the end of the driveway on his way home and died instantly. The doctor said that he couldn't have helped if he'd been standing alongside him when he fell.

My first husband was Bill and Jean's oldest son. They had two sons. Lynn, my husband, being the oldest. He and I grew up together and were married young. He died of the same heart disease as his father at the young age of 31.

Jean remarried after her boys were grown up and she had another baby late in life. Peter is Michelle's uncle, though he is only a few years older than her. We saw him recently at a funeral and I can't believe he is a middle aged man. Where did all of the years go?

Lynn died on December 31, 1977. His mother died the following year. She just wasn't the same after Lynn died. She had lost her first husband and her oldest son. It took its toll, as did alcoholism, diabetes and emotional abuse by her second husband.

Jean treated me just like her daughter. She was a great mother-in-law and I still miss her. I never knew Bill. My husband was only 8 when he died and that was three years before we met. It was ironic that when her father died, Michelle was also 8. Odd how things happen.

For many years, Michelle had to have checkups to ascertain she didn't carry the same genes as her father and grandfather, though the disease is more prevalent in boys. Now Brandon too has to have these checkups, but today's medical technology could prevent death--something it couldn't back then.

When Michelle uploaded this photograph to Facebook, I just had to have a copy. Jean was a lovely woman and I wish Michelle had been able to know her better. Brandon and Jordan would have loved Grandma Jean.

Do you have photos of someone that was special to you? If so, I would love to see them. Old photos are one of my favorite things. If you post some, please be sure to let me know.

Today was a beautiful day here and we got out and about for a change. I will tell you about it later in the week. Enjoy the warm spell. We never know if the chilly air will move in once more. ~Blessings, Mary~