As my children get older and I see them interacting with their grandparents, I stroll back in time to my childhood. I loved my grandparents dearly and looking back at the time and energy they spent to teach me about life means more to me today than it did back then.
Even though my grandparents have passed away, lately there have been many times when I can almost sense their approving presence. Usually it's when either myself or my parents are in the middle of teaching my children something which has been handed down through the generations when the feeling becomes strong.
There have been times when I thought if I turned my head, I might actually see them looking over my shoulder. There have been other times when I can almost hear their voice and feel their touch as they instructed me so many years ago. It is in these times when I feel so blessed to have had them in my life for the time God allowed them to be here on earth, and yet sad they aren't still here.
All of those years they lovingly schooled me in what they'd learned from their parents and grandparents. There are many times when I wish I had listened more closely and asked more questions. To have learned more tricks to sewing (like how to actually sew a straight line) from both my maternal and paternal grandmothers would be of such benefit to me today. Oh, to have the opportunity to watch my maternal grandmother make her infamous gumbo just one more time would be the cat's meow.
I wish I would have appreciated my maternal grandfather more as he baited my fishing hooks when we'd go out fishing together. Baiting hooks and tying hooks onto fishing line is definitely an artform.
To have been granted much more time with my paternal grandfather is something I've longed for since he passed away when I was just 8 years old. He was also a photography buff and oh the things I might have learned from him. My memories with him though are of games, and tickles, and lots of horsing around.
As I look back through my life up until today, I think of all the people and experiences who have influenced me and made me the person I am today. Unlike many who profess they are "self-made" men or women, I'm definitely not one of them.
No, I believe my life is a compilation of all those who have taken the time to be a part of my life. When my grandparents were teaching me the things they knew, they were imparting a piece of them into me. As I have grown up and matured, I have become like a puzzle whose pieces have fused together and created the zany, serious, introspective, light-hearted, God-fearing, crazy redhead I am today. And I pray that I pass on a little bit of each one of them on to my children......
by: Christie Bielss
"You've got mail". 3 little words that have all but eliminated the United States Postal Service from the letter mailing industry. When I bought my first computer back in 2000 and installed the AOL internet software, I was sure the internet was the best thing since sliced bread. Hearing those 3 words packed a punch of excitement so big it made my heart leap and my pulse race.
With baited breath I'd wait as I listened to the sound of the modem connecting to the provider. My day would instantly be brighter if I had mail which caused my computer to speak those 3 little words. The convenience of email has been a god-send to families and friends who are separated by distance. Companies across the globe are now able to conduct business transactions in the blink of an eye. The convenience of email has undeniable advantages.
However, as I was going through letters my grandfather had written to my grandmother while researching my family's genealogy, it dawned on me that I would not be leaving this kind of tangible legacy for my own children and grandchildren. Sure, I could print off email correspondence between my husband and I when we were separated due to a job transfer, but printer ink does have a limited life span and it just doesn't give the same feeling a handcrafted letter does.
There is something so intensely personal about someone putting their thoughts and experiences down on paper in their own handwriting. The recipient of that letter knows the sender has touched it with their own hands and the scent of their perfume or cologne may even still linger on the paper. While the convenience of email has facilitated the speed by which we go about our fast-paced lifestyles, it has also caused us to forget to sit back, relax, and breathe.
When I was a child, one of the neatest surprises was to get a letter or card in the mail from my grandparents. Oh the shouting and hoopla that would transpire with my brothers and I over whoever received that letter! We would carefully open the envelope making sure not to tear the flap too much so the letter could be folded and stored back in the envelope to keep it safe. The letter would gently be unfolded and read aloud as everyone sat around the recipient. I still have those letters my grandparents sent me some 30+ years later and I still go back and read them from time to time.
I decided after having this revelation to go and purchase a set of stationary and send out some letters. I went to 6 different retailers who carry stationary supplies and not a single one carried a set of ordinary stationary any longer. Oh yes, they carried folded note cards and lots of designs for print your own invitations, but not a single, solitary set of stationary.
It was as I stood there in that 6th store trying to think of where I could get a set of stationary that I remembered. Most of the letters we received were on sheets of plain lined, and sometimes unlined, note paper. Even the letters my grandfather sent to my grandmother while fighting in World War II were on plain paper.
The letters did not require fancy stationary with initials embossed in gold, or paper with pretty flowers decorating the corners. No, all we needed for a letter to be special were the thoughtfully chosen handwritten words put down on paper and the love that it was sent with.
by: Christie Bielss
