"Your grandpa is recovering in sioux falls from an infection that developed due to a surgery related to a twisted bowel. Will give you all an update tonight."
Today's blog isn't going to be about boys or school, softball or friends... It's going to be about love and the ones I love. The ones who knew me since I was just the size of a pea pod. This blog is going to be about my grandparents; Nannie and Popeye.
My stomach dropped seventh hour when I read the text. Mr. Howard's voice began to fade to just a murmur as I fingered the keypad on my phone. Thoughts went zooming through my head as minutes passed waiting for a reply from my dad. When he told me that Popeye was sedated and resting I breathed a sigh of relief.
Relief only lasted a few minutes before I realized that my grandpa is old. Not the evil soul sucker old, but old enough. I can't imagine life without him and that scares me. Summers wouldn't be the same. The cabin would just seem like another place when it would normally seem like a nirvana with all my family around me.
And then I started to think about my grandmother. I couldn't imagine them not together. How was she feeling? Is she okay? Is she in the room with him? Is she scared? My grandparents have been married for 52 years and I can still see the love in my grandpa's eyes when he looks at my grandmother. I want a love like theirs. A love that last half a century without losing the spark that brought them together.
I always enjoy hearing about how they met; my grandma was a freshman in high school and my grandpa a sophomore. My great grandmother didn't like my grandpa one bit, she called him a troublemaker and always told my grandma to "stay away from that Jimmy Moir." Of course Nannie didn't listen and fell in love with Popeye.
At my father's wedding two summers ago my grandma made a special request to the DJ; "Play 'The Leader of the Pack' by The Shangri-Las." Watching those two dance together made everyone smile and made me want my marriage to last the long. To have someone to grow old with.
That same summer we celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary. It was a huge production that my family had been planning since the previous summer, all of it a surprise to them. A whole week was dedicated to their love. And the surprises went like this;
My cousin Morgan woke up really early in the morning and went to wake up my grandparents in the cabin. He told them he thought they had bed bugs in the bunkhouse and to help him investigate. They reluctantly walked over to the bunkhouse and opened the screen door only to be surprised when three other people (my cousins Brad and Marta, and my sister Lindsey) who popped up from behind the bed. The three of them were supposed to arrived three days later.
I drove up with my cousin Josh, his girlfriend Randi, my cousin Megan, sisters Amy and Mary, and Aunt Annie and Uncle Brad. We knew that all of the people at the cabin would be down by the dock so we snuck around the bunkhouse to get a view of the dock. We then decided that Josh, one of my eldest cousins whom my grandparents haven't seen in ages would be the one to walk out and say "hello." We giggled as we watched him walk straight up to Nannie, as she paused and tried to recognize him, and then as she screamed "OH MY GOODNESS! JOSH!" We then walked into view and Nannie hugged each of us while tears poured from her eyes.
The next couple of days included arrivals of old family members, dinners with everyone, and finally ended with the main dinner. The food wasn't all that great but watching Nannie and Popeye give the toast was the best part. They had tears in their eyes, grateful and just so happy to be surrounded by people who loved them and who they loved dearly. Tissues were passed around as the audience teared up from the kind words. We concluded the night with homemade ice cream, enough to feed a firehouse, and a specially made DVD. On the DVD were pictures ranging from when Nannie and Popeye were just babies to now with all of their grand kids.
One moment I'll never forget is when I looked back at Popeye during the movie and he was crying. Not just teary eyed, but tears were rolling down his wrinkled face. I remember it shocking me because I had always thought Popeye was not the one to cry, he was too tough. But there he sat with tears pouring from his eyes. He was touched and couldn't help but cry.
My grandfather means a lot to me, like I'm sure most people's grandparents do. And I can't help but look back on all the memories I have of him and almost tear up because I can't imagine them without him.
To say that losing him would break my heart is an understatement. But not only would it be an understatement about me, but also to my whole family. For what is Moirs Mooring without it's proprietor?
I love you, Popeye.
Wow! I kind of know exactly how you feel. A few weeks ago my grandpa had to be taken to the hospital for a similar reason. Come to find out he also had something wrong with his bowel, except he had an obstruction. As soon as I realized my grandpa was in the hospital and the doctor's didn't know what was wrong with him, I feared for his life. I would have no idea what I would do without my grandpa and how different life would be without him. Once I found out what was wrong with him I knew he was going to be okay because he pretty much has nine lives.
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