A Memory to Celebrate an Anniversary

Please scroll down just a little, click on the youtube link, and listen to the song as you read this post. (No need to watch the video.)

This story about my great-grandparents, Edward Jesse and Mary Thompson Bickerstaff, was told to me by one of their granddaughters who was present when it happened.  She did not tell me the year but based on the song, it probably took place in the early 1930s when both Edward Jesse and Mary would have been in their late 50s or early 60s.  I'm posting this in honor of their anniversary.  They were married on March 15, 1891, 120 years ago!

In the kitchen of the house where Edward Jesse and Mary lived there was a daybed or a couch where family members would occasionally rest or nap during the day.

At the time this story takes place, Gramma Mary, Grampa Edward Jesse, and their granddaughter had just finished lunch.  Perhaps Grampa was finishing his coffee as Gramma cleared the table and moved to the sink to do the dishes.  In the background the radio was playing.  Gramma, busy with the dishes, heard the song, "When Your Hair Has Turned to Silver."

What was Gramma thinking about?  What had the lunchtime conversation been?  What had happened in the morning or on previous days?  Did she feel her age creeping up and need a little reassurance?

Without turning to speak directly to him, Gramma asked her husband, "Will you still love me then?"

When he didn't respond, she turned toward him and found him asleep on the daybed.  She stood at the sink and cried.

I find this story so touching and yet so accurate to "man" and "woman" -- a woman's heart, a man's body.  Their granddaughter didn't remember what happened next.  I hope Edward Jesse somehow confirmed to Mary that he would love her in future years.  She passed away about 10 years later, 5 years before he died.

Happy, happy anniversary, Gramma and Grampa.  I hope you both have silver hair and are loving each other to bits, just as much as you did - or more than - when you married!

--Nancy. Copyright © 2011-2015 Nancy Messier. All Rights Reserved.