“…I have walked in my integrity, and I have trusted in the Lord without wavering. Prove me, O Lord, and try me; test my heart and mind. For your steadfast love is before my eyes, and I walk in faithfulness to you.” Psalms 26:1b-3
I have begun the task of preparing my living room to be painted. It is a daunting task, with removing everything from the walls and filling the holes, cracks and the “how and when did THAT happen?” spots. As I was removing pictures off some shelves, I saw a tiny picture of me sitting in the middle of my grandparents, I’m about 3 or 4 years old and we are on the front steps of their front porch. As we approach All Saint’s Day this Sunday, I stopped my fussing with things and spent a little time remembering them.
This set of grandparents were my dad’s parents, they began their family at older ages. Therefore, I do not have a life time of memories. My grandma Rose Passed away when I was 7 and my grandpa Hugh passed away 5 years later. I remember their house, they lived on 4th street in Long Beach not far from Ocean Blvd., they had a detached garage and the driveway had a pergola that was covered with concord grapes. They had a front porch swing that I absolutely loved to swing on and their backyard was full of wild flowers.
My grandma played the piano, an old upright that is now in my possession that my brother and I took lessons on. This piano still has a picture drawn with crayons under the keyboard that my dad and his brother drew when they were quite young. My grandma would only play church songs and when my dad came home and played some boogie woogie on it he said his mom thought it was going to go up in flames! I remember playing go fish with my grandma, not the card game, but a game made with wood spools that had a bent paper clip stuck in the middle of the spool and a bent paper clip tied onto a piece of string like a fishing pole. The idea was to try to pick up the most fish (spools) that you could in a small amount of time. Simple but I remember it very well, and as a special treat we would sit in the small built-in in the kitchen corner and have a scoop of vanilla ice cream with Hershey’s syrup on top, I believe that’s where my love of ice cream began. What I remember of my grandpa is not a lot. He was in WWI, was a Bank Teller and then a Taxi driver, but when he was around he was a kind and gentle soul.
My grandparents had strong faith, always went to church and raised their family to love God and others. I’m grateful to have these memories as few as they are and I believe our loved ones souls continue to move among us in ways we are not fully aware of. They are the saints that raised us and continue to influence our hearts.
“People are like stained glass windows. They sparkle and shine when the sun’s out. When the darkness sets in, their true beauty is revealed only if there is light within.”—Anonymous
Brenda
Thank you God, for the saints that came before us long ago and for those in our lives today. May our hearts be forever grateful for those that have shown us how to love you through ordinary ways. May we in turn lead in love for the world and generations to come. Amen.