Some Enchanted Evening

It has been a wonderful summer, full of activity and travels, but it has also been tough to live without the rock of our family, my grandma.  Every day I think about her and every Sunday the skies open up during worship and I can feel her looking down, and I cry, happy that we sing in the dark and no one can see my tears.

I am so sad for my grandpa; I saw him today and he is so heartbroken.  I don't think anyone of us can imagine what it is like to lose someone you have know for over 69 years.  I was lucky enough, a couple of weeks ago, to hear him tell the story of when they met.  I had heard it in pieces before, but never in so much detail, and his eyes shone as he spoke of that night.

Grandpa was in Canada on duty for England in the Second World War, and he was stationed at Penhold in early 1944.  On Saturday nights, busses full of young ladies from Red Deer would travel to the base and the young ladies and the soldiers would dance the night away.  One February night, my grandpa, barely 20 years old, spotted a beautiful young lady across the room and couldn't believe she wasn't dancing with anyone.  He asked her to dance, and they spent the night together, dancing slowly and quickly, all of the dances of that era, and he said she was such a good dancer.

At the end of the night, she went back to the bus, and he followed, not wanting her to go, and he said it was a cold night and he didn't have a jacket on.  She was wearing a big fur coat, and she opened it up and wrapped it around him.  He said that was it, and he knew he would marry her.  She came back in the bus every Saturday, and after 5 or 6 weeks of dancing, he asked her to marry him.  Her response was, "I'll have to ask my mum", to which he replied, "Aren't you old enough to decide?  Do you want to marry me?", and she said, "Yes, I think so, but you'll have to ask mum."  Obviously her mother said yes, because they were married soon after, on May 12, 1944.  They rest is history.

When I was younger it was my grandma with whom I had long chats, and my grandpa and I would talk about soccer or play crib.  Now I just visit to sit and listen to him, and some days, like a couple of weeks ago, he is in good spirits, full of happy memories.  But today, he started to cry as he thought of her, and as I touched his shoulder, I realized how thin he had become, and how lonely he has been.

As I listened to the message today about the Holy Spirit, I prayed so hard for the Holy Spirit to comfort him, and I hope that my grandma visits him tonight and they can dance the night away just as they did on that cold February night 69 years ago.