Friday was Valentine’s Day, a day that will forever belong to my maternal grandfather. His patience, unconditional love and generous spirit have guided me. All who knew him admired him. EVERYONE in Monroe knew ‘Papa Nick’.
He would sit for hours listening to me ‘perform’. “One more time, baby doll.” Little did I know I was practicing. Months before I could drive he bought my first car, a 1963 white Ford Fairlane. He wanted me to be prepared. He ‘escorted’ me to school for the first four months I had my permit, not because he didn’t think I could drive, but because he wanted to make sure I was safe. In retrospect, there is comfort in that. He never missed a single performance I was in. He was one of the first people to hold both of my babies.
A year or so before he died we talked on Valentine’s Day. I asked his plans. ‘Baby Doll, I’m going to visit the old people.’ He was 90, still driving. He would take flowers to each of the nursing homes on the Southside of Monroe. Valentine’s Day was a day to be celebrated. He understood agape without ever knowing the word: unselfish love, giving without ever asking in return. It was sensible and quite logical to him that EVERYONE got a card, flowers, candy, some small token on Valentine’s Day. There was nothing extravagant about his gesture, although he was definitely larger than life. He just had that much love to share…and shared it so generously. Big love! GREAT love!
I was surprised to find that Friday was also “Singles Awareness Day”. Odd, because I never thought of Valentine’s Day being something just for eros: romantic love. Thanks to Papa (and my parents, too), my awareness of love is so much bigger and beyond a label…..
BethSings 