My grandmother was about 75 years old at the time--with another couple of decades yet to go. But at that point, she'd already lived an amazing life. My girlfriend was about 20, but the same thing could be said about having lived an amazing life to that point.
Grandmother had been a math and physics double-major on a basketball scholarship at Arkansas Tech in the early 1930's. Girlfriend had served an internship at the Smithsonian Institution's Museum of Natural History scraping squirrel skulls.
Grandmother had raised five children in post-Great Depression SW Arkansas. Girlfriend had travelled and lived in many parts of the US and Europe already.
The two made a connection when girlfriend drove (alone) the two hours to Arkadelphia to spend a weekend with grandmother. While she was there, she interviewed her for a paper she was writing in one of her communications classes. She wrote a fantastic paper that chronicled part of the life of one amazing woman who had done so much.
I had always been attracted to this woman and from the very beginning knew that she was the one for me. But that weekend was the point at which I knew that she would be my wife. The respect that she showed my grandmother really humbled me.
Eventually, one very amazing woman became another amazing woman's first grandchild-in-law.
I still look for that paper every now and then.
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2 comments:
Yeah, I'd like to read that one! Squirrel skulls? Ew. Also, about wedding hair--I felt so guilty that day because I didn't attend Susan's graduation. Mom was so busy trying to put up the "wall of pictures" that she did not have time to do my hair. Aunt Gloria did it for me, and I did not like it at all. I thought it was WAY too poofy. :)
I'd love to read it.
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