Happy Valentine's Birthday To My Grandma Lillie

 

Dearest Grandma Lillie,

                                      Today is your birthday and I sure do miss you. I know you are in heaven now and experiencing the everlasting joy that comes from being in the presence of the purest source of love in all eternity, Jesus! Your faith in Jesus was such a strength and comfort to me, and such a blessing, I wish that I had told you more often just how much you meant to me. There was never any doubt as to your love for me, and your kindness can never be forgotten. Your stories were an endless source of fun, and you were always such an inspiration.

    On this Valentines Day when so many are sending cards and exchanging chocolates, balloons, and flowers, etc., etc., I thought I would take a moment to remember your birthday, and remind myself of just how much your love and faith meant to me. Jesus was ever and always the guiding force and strength in your life, and I am so grateful that you showed me what it was like to be a child of God, with simple faith and steadfast love.

    I thought today I would put up a few Valentine's Cards that I have, that are from around the time when you were born. I think you would have found them to be a hoot, for you always had a keen sense of humor. I like to think I got my wit and poetry from you, and I pray that I too will always keep an abiding faith in Jesus, just like you.

                                                                                           With all my love, your granddaughter, Lesa

As you can see tho these cards were made circa 1909-1912 they are just as sentimental and sometimes as silly as the cards of today. I find some of the cards of this period to be very beautiful. Funnily enough these postcards were not sent  between romantic couples at all, but were sent by younger siblings to an older brother who was far away from his home in Ohio, and was out working as a hired hand in the farm fields of Kansas, Colorado, and Nebraska. I'm sure they were sent as a warm reminder of his loved ones back home, for this young man was sorely missed.

Grandma Lillie from not long before she met Grandpa Shorty. When she met him she was living in Goodwell, Texas co., Oklahoma, and working in a restaurant there.

          Grandpa Shorty on the home place, on Oxly road, just east of Doniphan, Ripley co., Missouri.

                     Grandpa Shorty, at his employer's place near Goodwell, Texas co., Oklahoma.

Grandpa Gerald who went by the nickname of "Shorty" had come from his home near Doniphan, Ripley co., Missouri to work in the oilfields near Goodwell,Texas co., Oklahoma. He often came into the restaurant to eat where Grandma Lillie worked. He took a liking to grandma and they began to "step out together." (as grandma put it.) I don't know if theirs was a long courtship or if they ever sent each other cards or letters, but I do know they were true and faithful to one another all of their married life.

Now at that time, (1930), in some parts of the country, young folks when they got married, were often treated to what was called a "Shivaree." A type of hazing if you will, which included the gathering of a crowd at the young folks place, late at night, with the banging of pots and pans and anything else that related to noise making, and it wouldn't stop until a party was thrown for the nuisance makers.

Now my grandparents did not want to have a Shivaree, as they both worked for their living, and times were hard. It being 1930, the Great Depression was in full swing, and they just couldn't afford the cost of some crazy party. That and my grandma hated being the center of attention. So when grandpa popped the question and she said yes, they decided they would leave town and get married without anyone being the wiser. On their marriage day, grandma took some time off of work and so did grandpa, and they hopped on the train in town and went from Goodwell to Guymon, Oklahoma and got hitched by the Justice of the Peace. Unfortunately they were not as subtle as they thought, (as some folks can smell a romance a mile off), so very soon after their return, it was all over town that they had just got hitched. 

Next thing you know some fellows had grabbed up grandpa and hauled him up the street to the restaurant where grandma was working. Someone else grabbed a wheelbarrow. Grandma's fellow workers grabbed her and made her get into the wheelbarrow, while the men made grandpa wheel her in it up and down the main street, with cars honking and folks hootin' and laughin' and making all sorts of racket. Well grandma was pretty fit to be tied, and grandpa was nearly about to blow his sometimes very short fuse. After some length of this goofing about, they were finally let go, but not before nearly the entire county knew they had got married.

That evening when they went home to their place outside of town, they were determined to avoid the possibility of a Shivaree, so they took a blanket and hid in the brush away from the house. Sure enough not long after dark, over the hills began to be seen the headlights of cars, coming to their place. They thought they could wait the revelers out, but they just got louder and louder, banging on pots and pans and even on the doors and walls of the house, and shouting for the couple to come out and give them a party. The mob saw grandpa's Model-T in the drive, so they knew the folks had to be home somewhere. 

Grandma got afraid they would do an injury to the house, so they finally slunk back down out of the brush and gave the noisy hoodlums a party. Grandma said it was the most tiresome thing she had ever gone through, and the crowd didn't leave until after midnight. 

Now it may be true that it was a tiresome thing to go through at the time, but from the way she relished it, I could tell grandma sure got a lot of fun out of telling us that story. She always told it with a good laugh and a twinkle in her eye. I can still see her today, sitting on her sofa speaking in her soft Oklahoma drawl, which years of living in the Pacific Northwest could never erase, telling that story and laughing at its conclusion.

Happy Valentine's Birthday Grandma, and thank you once again for all of the wonderful happy memories.