Friday, September 7, 2012

Grandfather's Day -Postcard Friendship Friday #132



Yes, Grandfather's Day will be celebrated tomorrow!  What a fun thought--I have had wonderfully lovely Grandparents and I miss them so much.  Grandpa was very dear to me.  We had a special relationship.  When I was a tiny girl, there was a stand of trees in the middle of the Blueberry field Dad planted.  I would make believe those blueberries were the sea and that bit of trees was my own little island.

For years I worked in my garden, making it into a bit of paradise.  Old earrings hung from trees, there was a mushroom patch, flowers all over, which I planted with my own hands.  Grandpa was with me all the way.  He is the one who helped me dig a little circle area under the trees in my garden.  Grandpa taught me how to dig up the ground, turning the earth over with my shovel so the roots of the weeds were exposed and would die.  That garden was beautiful.  I spent years--throughout my childhood, tending that bit of land.  To this day it is called "Beth's Garden.  There isn't much left of my childhood there, but only a few weeks ago, walking through, I found an old earring attached to the branch of an ancient oak.  My childish hands had place it there over 40 years ago.

Grandpa was  my best friend.  I was bullied quite a bit in grade school.  Kids would not play with me, made fun of me--so I often was hurt and was somewhat left alone.  I would come home from school and run to Grampa's house.  I would sit with Grandpa and tell him my woes.  I would cry and he would put his arm around me and just listen.

He is the one who taught me how to see faces and shapes in the trees and clouds.  I remember I was in third grade, Grandpa cut a picture from a fashion magazine and put it in my hands.  "Someday," he said.  "You will look like this."

Years later I found that picture and marveled.  It DID look like me.  I still have that picture from my precious Grandfather

So, all you Grandfathers out there--don't underestimate the influence you have in the lives of your grandchildren.  I thank God for my own dear Granddaddy.  He was my best friend and confidant.  I am looking forward to seeing him in Heaven someday.

Happy Grandfather's Day!

*  DON'T FORGET:  When you submit a postcard, be sure to put a link back to this page.  You can copy and paste the PFF badge, which has the link embedded.  Thank you!

*  NOTE: You don't have to stick to the theme I choose each Friday. Just put up the postcards you love and tell us why you like them.

*  REMINDER: Comments and links which contain advertising and do not refer to any of the following; Postcard Friendship Friday, mailboxes, the Post office, postcards or the love of postcards, will be deleted.  Lately, I've had to delete quite a few comments which are just ads. 


6 comments:

Sreisaat said...

You had a wonderful grandpa and fantastic memories of him! I wish mine had lived longer; he died when I was very young and the fondest memory I had of him was telling us (over and over, at our bidding) how a small portion his earlobe was accidentally snipped off by a Japanese captain when the Philippines was under Japanese occupation. :( I can only imagine how you felt when you found that earring from your childhood! Ahh, sweet childhood memories.

Postcards Crossing

Sheila @ A Postcard a Day said...

I'm sorry twice over. I think I've added my link to last week's and also I'm very late this week.

I love your postcard and your story about your grandfather. Sadly, I didn't know either of my grandfathers but my own father made a great Granddad to my two sons.

Maria said...

Hello Beth,

I love this post about you and your granddaddy. I miss my lolo (grandfather in Filipino), too! I miss him so much that everytime I think of sitting on his lap and telling him about my dreams, about how I did in school...it makes it so painful that he's no longer here and I won't be able to prevent myself from crying.

I wish to see him in heaven one day, too. Perhaps my lolo and I, you and your granddaddy can plan a picnic there! :D

Hugs from Manila, Philippines,
Krissa

Anonymous said...

I collect real postcards and do blog them but I don't scan the back portion of it for confidentiality purposes to those who sent them to me. I just found your blog while surface browsing.

Paul van Yperen said...

Hi Beth,

A beautiful memory. My grandfather. Hendrik Yntema, gave me once a set of vintage postcards. As a boy he lived in Akkrum, a village in the province of Frisia in the Netherlands.

Hendrik left Akkrum with his family when he was still a young man. They started a new life in Den Haag (The Hague) and he would never return to Akkrum.

All he had of the village were his memories and these postcards. My granddad is dead for some years now and I've always kept his postcards in my collection. Two years ago, I visited Akkrum for the first time in my life and compared the postcards with the situation now. I made picture of the actual situuation and put these pictures and the postcards on Flickr, and made some booklets for my mother and her sisters of it.

happy memory.

Bob

PS For the result, view the slideshow at http://www.flickr.com/truusbobjantoo/sets/72157624108494639/show

Terra said...

This is a lovely tribute to your grandpa and how he helped you and loved you, and I like the idea of earrings in trees and you finding one recently on a visit to your old garden.