This picture of my mom and dad on their engagement day in sits on the shelf in my living room already fading. Both my parents were 23 in this picture in MAR 66 (you can see the date on the white border of the picture). It was the custom of the day to have a formal announcement of your engagement and to have a party to bring together both clans and to have the bride present her dowry to the husband's family. My mom told me a story once about how she came to accept my dad's hand in marriage. She said that my grandmother (dad's mom), in her deathbed, whispered to her to marry her son. Dad, I'm sure would have already gotten grandma's approval to marry my mom. I guess it was grandma's way of guaranteeing dad's success, by making this request just so. My mom told me how affected she was by this gesture and accepted my dad's proposal.
Within a year of my grandmother's death, my parents got engaged, married and had my older brother Jon. In another year, I would be born along with my twin.
It bespeaks of my dad's devotion to my grandmother, that 36 years after her death, he gathers up the family and faithfully visits his mother's grave on All Souls Day. Her picture hangs in his study, gazing down serenely.
I am glad I was able to scan this picture before the fading has gone much farther.
Mood | Contemplative
