Remembering

These are my mom's parents... my grandparents. My grandfather was a navigator in a B-17 bomber during "the war" before returning home to the small town life that he loved where he married his sweetheart and raised five children.

And my grandmother, wasn't she beautiful? A true steel magnolia. She was born on August 23, 1920. She would've been 88 years old today. After a battle with cancer she passed away in the summer of 1999 shortly before the professor and I became engaged. It was sad not to see her sharing in the joy of our wedding day, but my mom and I found special ways to incorporate the memory of her into the happy day.

The most special of those ways was that I was able to wear a gown that my grandmother, along with my mom's youngest sister, selected years before I was born for my aunt to wear when being presented. My aunt saved the gown over the years and she offered it to me after the professor proposed. As soon as I slipped it on I felt like Grace Kelly, it fit perfectly, my sister Susie said, "Oh, you have to wear this dress." And so I did. We ordered a veil, I bought some shoes, and I was happy knowing that my grandmother had helped select the dress long before I was even a thought.