Once upon a time there was a young girl who decided to go with her friends to town to see a John Wayne movie. She had no way of knowing this outing would change her life. After the movie a tall dark-headed handsome man came up to her and asked if she would like to go to dinner. She accepted. That was the day my grandma and grandpa fell in love.
Not too much later he was drafted by the army. They were quickly married and Grandma got pregnant right away. Grandpa was sent to Italy to guard prisoners of war. She had the baby while he was gone. My mom was over a year old before her daddy held her for the first time. It was a tough life, they were poor, their second child died at 4 months old from pneumonia. They went on to have 3 more children.
But through thick and thin, they were always happy, they were always in love, it was one of those love stories that you read about in a book. It all ended one December night. Grandpa got up feeling sick. He collapsed in the bathroom. He died in my Grandma's arms. That was 32 years ago when he was just 45.
Grandma's hair turned gray over night. She never stopped loving him. She went on with her life, feeling his presence, always missing him. Now Grandma is very sick. Things are foggy, she often mistakes my little girl for me. She is confused. But mention Grandpa and she can describe things they did down to the littlest detail. My grandma is dying. So this project was very emotional for me.
I love Rascal Flatts. And this is one of my very favorite songs. I cant listen to it without getting a tear in my eye. It is so much like my grandma's story. Its called
"Ellsworth Kansas, 1948". Here are the lyrics:
Grandma burned the biscuits
Nearly took the house down with it
Now she's in assisted living
We all knew that day would come
We knew she was too gone to drive
The day she parked on I-65
Found her on the shoulder cryin
She didn't know where she was
It's like her mind just quit
Oh but bring up grandpa
It's like someone flipped a switch
A front porch light and a blue DeSoto
A couple of straws and a Coca-Cola
You can see it all goin down
A handsome boy in army green
A tear on his face
Down on a knee, shaky voice, a diamond ring
She'll put you in that town
Tomorrow she won't remember what she did today
But just ask her bout Ellsworth, Kansas, 1948
She takes out his medals
A cigar box of letters
Sits and scatters pictures
Black and whites of days gone by
We started losin her when she lost him
But to hear her carry on
You'd swear she's seventeen again
Football games and leaves a cracklin
Walkin her home in his leather jacket
You can see it all goin down
A perfect night on a front porch glider
Sayin goodnight for the next three hours
Her tired eyes go wide and bright
When she talks about that town
Tomorrow she won't remember what she did today
But just ask her bout Ellsworth, Kansas, 1948
While the world is fading all around her
Sharing a sundae at the counter
He's goin on and on about her
Bet she's right there right now
Tomorrow she won't remember what she did today
But just ask about Ellsworth, Kansas, 1948
Here is a video for it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FGukwAYiTQ0&feature=relatedFor my Grandma's story it was Laurelville Ohio 1943.
For the background I used sheets of crepe paper. I love the texture it gives the piece and I really like the way the colors bled together.
For the images of the town I printed them off on regular white paper. I applied them to clear contact paper, soaked them in water, then peeled off the paper. It left the ink image.
I found these wonderful pansy stickers at Hobby Lobby. I was so thrilled with them because pansies were my Grandpa's fav flower. My grandma plants them on his grave every spring. These are embossed stickers and they could almost pass for real dried flowers.
This turned out just like I had imagined it in my mind. I was listening to the song and laying out my peices last night. I got goosebumps and tears in my eyes. Like I said, it was a very emotional project for me. Im going to give this to my mom for Mother's Day.
Thanks for looking!
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