Valentine's Day : Love Story from Northfield, Massachusetts

Grandpa

“A few words of love for my darling wife, Ess . . .”

“My life’s work is making her happy, and contented. Ever devoting myself to that cause, which is life itself. Nothing I can do or say is sufficient to express my feelings of appreciation for the joy she has brought into my life. Making life worthwhile for her is my heavenly duty-henceforth and forever-Her devoted husband, Lloyd.”

“Grandpa’s vow to Grandma. What strikes me most, was not only his pledge, his intention, but that he lived it. It is so simple and basic, and yet so eloquent and loving. Straight from the heart of Grandpa . . .”

My best friend, Shelley who lives in Western Massachusetts wrote me an email two weeks ago that was filled with our usual ramblings about how our days unfold. We could construct a very large novel with the amount of emails we have written to each other over the past ten years. She ended this particular email with, “I’m going to send you another email that might make you cry 🙂 but I’m sending it separate. It’s for the hopeless romantic in you.”

Along came the next email. I really had no idea what to expect and what I opened was a true gift. She had come across an email from her Aunt from 2004. Her Aunt was near the end of cleaning out her grandparents house and found the vow above when looking through some of their belongings. I responded right away with several questions. I wanted more. What I discovered was a love story that I felt needed to be shared.

The love story of Ess and Lloyd . . .

“They were both living and working in NYC. They didn’t know each other but my grandfather had seen my grandmother before work. She would lean into a car, give a man a kiss and he assumed it was her boyfriend/husband so he didn’t introduce himself. My grandfather was one of the first people to know how to install radios in cars….this would have been in the early 1930’s I believe…..so radios in cars were still a pretty rare thing. He was working underneath a car on the side of a street, but had forgot to set the break. The car started to roll and my grandmother happened to be walking by….she ran to the car, hopped in and set the break.

My grandfather came to discover that the man she kissed goodbye in the mornings was her father. So, this amazing life began for them.

They were married, March 17, 1934.

They lived in Northfield, Massachusetts; they raised four children. When I was little we went there every Sunday afternoon and we spent every Christmas Eve there. I don’t think I’ve ever seen two people so in love. They were such special people. Well into their 80’s when we would leave their house, they would sit on the side porch together in one of those big beautiful houses on Main St. in Northfield, to wave goodbye. They would almost always be holding hands and they constantly called each other “dearie”….they were from another time and place. As they got older, my grandfather was almost completely deaf and my grandmother had very little sight left, but they would joke around about how it was good that one was deaf and the other blind and they would “share” each others eyes and ears.

They never had a lot of money, but they had a very happy, rich life. I’m very lucky to have had them in my life.”

I found their love story of 60+ years to be refreshing, eye opening and one I will not forget.

Thank you, Nicholson family for sharing and allowing me to pass this magical story along.

It’s possible. It really, really is.

xoxo . . .

Valentine’s Day : Love Story from Northfield, Massachusetts