This week’s Spin Cycle is about, what else, y’all? LOVE.
I could write line after line about how much I love my husband, my sons, my daughter-in-law, my parents, my dog. But today my thoughts turn towards a person who greatly influenced my entire life, right from when I was a child. She was the glue that held my family together. She showed me, by her example in everything she did, what it means to have your priorities in the proper order. Her love and her fierce protection for her family never wavered and it never failed. She was my Rock of Gibraltar, my inspiration and my grandmother.
This is a picture of my grandmother, Gladys Parker, when she was about 15 years old. She wrote the following poem when she was 88. The valentine she describes must have been around 76 years old. She was a down to earth, practical, no nonsense woman – not at all a girly, romantic type. The fact that she saved this valentine surprises me. The moral of the story? You just never know how long those valentines you send today will be saved, or how much they could mean…to somebody.
The Valentine
“You know I love you;
Can you guess who?”
Is written on my valentine.
Another like it, you cannot find.
Its kept among my souvenirs
Of the past – these many years.
Now and then I take it out
And remember how it came about.
Coming in to school one day
Upon my desk – there it lay.
A bright red heart, homemade too,
Saying, ” You know I love you”.
So childish and inquisitive me
Looked around – who can it be?
He had his eyes inside a book
He knew I knew by his look.
Its been so long – long ago;
His name now I do not know.
But many times I wonder how
This old man is doing now!
Gladys Parker
January 2000
Ans this is how Gladys looked in 2000, when this poem was written. She wrote hundreds of poems in her life, and even had her works published in a book, “Then and Now.” Sadly, she passed away last October at 96 years old. You can enjoy more of her poems, and read her life’s story here, at The Rock of Gibraltar, a blog I have started in her memory.
When Ginger snaps..... 
I’ve only met Gladys after her passing, but she is such an amazing woman! You’re linked!
Happy V-day…your Grandmother really was one of a kind.
What a beautiful tribute to your Grandmother on this special ‘love’ day.
Happy Valentine’s Day to you, Ginger.
What I love about the poem is her remembering this classmate so many years later. We age, but school days seem like they were just yesterday, don’t they?
Your Gladys was a striking young woman with a very smart look. It always seems to me that women in these old photographs look more mature than their years. A wisdom about them that is lacking in today’s teens. It is very eye-opening how a simple act we do today will be remembered for years by someone. And we may not ever know it. I loved this post. I will definitely check out your blog in honor of Gladys.
So sweet! Reading her poem, I could see so clearly how she looked around for who could’ve left the valentine, and how the boy ducked his head into a book, blushing! Clearly, she had MANY admirers, from that day all the way to the present! 🙂