My sister and I visited our Mother’s and Grandparents’ graves today. Without even thinking about it, today was exactly the 11 year anniversary of our Grandmother’s passing. She and Gramps are buried next to Gramp’s 2 brothers and their wives. Standing over their headstones got me thinking. For years my Grandfather and Granny lived in a 2 level house south of Chicago. They were on the lower level. Gramps’ youngest brother, Harry and wife, Harriet lived upstairs. Both levels were identical in layout. Their furnishings were quite similar. My Grandparents had 2 sons; my Aunt and Uncle had 2 daughters. Gramps and his brother owned a small hardware store together for some 50 years. They invested their money in the same ways, educated their children in the same way and had all the same friends. When they retired, they moved at the same time to a nice apartment complex in Chicago. I think they were getting a bit tired of each other’s constant company by then, because they lived in separate buildings, but once again had the same exact apartment layout.
(L to R – Grandma Nellie, Grandpa Joe, Uncle Harry, Aunt Harriet)
After a short while, both families decided to move to South Florida to get away from the brutal Chicago winters. Naturally, they each bought codnods in the same condo association. Different buildings, but the same corner apartment on the second floor on the golf course, with the same layout and similar furniture and decorations. For years I often heard about how my Aunt and Uncle were “closer to the community pool.” But they had a “darker apartment because the Northern exposure meant less sunshine in their apartment.” The brothers golfed together (but my Uncle was a better golfer than my Gramps). They often ate lunch and dinner together, socialized together, played bridge together, (but my Grandfather was a better bridge player). They traveled together and sometimes, just sometimes, they complained about each other.
Their original hardware store. No longer There.
Flash forward to today. There I was standing over their graves. Brothers. Next door neighbors. Inches apart. Just like old times.
Now and forever, and ever.
Like this post? Subscribe to my RSS feed and get loads more!
No comments yet