Posted on 11/15/2008 8:46:53 AM PST by freedom9
SHMILY
My grandparents were married for over half a century, and played their own special game from the time they had met each other. The goal of their game was to write the word "shmily" in a surprise place for the other to find. They took turns leaving "shmily" around the house, and as soon as one of them discovered it, it was their turn to hide it once more.
They dragged "shmily" with their fingers through the sugar and flour containers to await whoever was preparing the next meal. They smeared it in the dew on the windows overlooking the patio where my grandma always fed us warm, homemade pudding with blue food coloring. "Shmily"was written in the steam left on the mirror after a hot shower, where it would reappear bath after bath. At one point, my grandmother even unrolled an entire roll of toilet paper to leave "shmily" on the very last sheet. There was no end to the places "shmily" would pop up. Little notes with "shmily" scribbled hurriedly were found on dashboards and car seats, or taped to steering wheels. The notes were stuffed inside shoes and left under pillows. "Shmily" was written in the dust upon the mantel and traced in the ashes of the fireplace. This mysterious word was as much a part of my grandparents' house as the furniture.
It took me a long time before I was able to fully appreciate my grandparents' game. Skepticism has kept me from believing in true love-one that is pure and enduring. However, I never doubted my grandparents' relationship. They had love down pat. It was more than their flirtatious little games; it was a way of life. Their relationship was based on a devotion and passionate affection which not everyone is lucky experience.
Grandma and Grandpa held hands every chance they could. They stole kisses as they bumped into each other in their tiny kitchen. They finished each other's sentences and shared the daily crossword puzzle and word jumble. My grandma whispered to me about how cute my grandpa was, how handsome and old he had grown to be. She claimed that she really knew "how to pick 'em."Before every meal they bowed their heads and gave thanks, marveling at their blessings: a wonderful family, good fortune, and each other.
But there was a dark cloud in my grandparents' life: my grandmother had breast cancer. The disease had first appeared ten years earlier. As always, Grandpa was with her every step of the way. He comforted her in their yellow room, painted that way so that she could always be surrounded by sunshine, even when she was too sick to go outside.
Now the cancer was again attacking her body. With the help of a cane and my grandfather's steady hand, they went to church every morning. But my grandmother grew steadily weaker until, finally, she could not leave the house anymore. For a while, Grandpa would go to church alone, praying to God to watch over his wife. Then one day, what we all dreaded finally happened.Grandma was gone.
"Shmily." It was scrawled in yellow on the pink ribbons of my grandmother's funeral bouquet. As the crowd thinned and the last mourners turned to leave, my aunts, uncles, cousins and other family members came forward and gathered around Grandma one last time. Grandpa stepped up to my grandmother's casket and, taking a shaky breath, he began to sing to her. Through his tears and grief, the song came, a deep and throaty lullaby.Shaking with my own sorrow, I will never forget that moment. For I knew that, although I couldn't begin to fathom the depth of their love, I had been privileged to witness its unmatched beauty.
S-h-m-i-l-y: See How Much I Love You.
Beautiful.
Thank you for the post. It is a beautiful story.
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That was a beautiful story, thank you for sharing it (and thanks for making me cry before breakfast!)
With all that’s going on in the world, thank you for reminding us all of what is important. Beautiful story!
This put a lump in my throat.
Thank you for posting it.
Wow. This thread could use a ‘get the kleenex’ alert. Thank you so very much for sharing this beautiful story of love with us. What a blessing to share one’s life with one who loves you back!
Amen. It is beautiful and touching and seen less and less every day, I am afraid.
Very sweet! God bless them both!
Beautiful!
Thank you.
The word is actually an acryonym.. See how much I love you. SHMILY.
I love it when you find couples who are still in love after a long time, and who still know how to play with each other.
My mom and step dad played. They used to take turns hiding the roll left from the toilet paper around the house for the other to find. Mr G and I have a pair of teddy bears and the grand kids don’t understand how they are arranged on the bed in odd ways every morning.
Love is grand.
I’ve done the rearrange the dolls thing when visiting friend’s houses.
I’m sure they appreciate it when they find the Raggedy Ann dolls in compromising positions ;-)
I’ve done the same thing at a friend’s house that is full of Amish dolls, figurines, wood carvings, etc. (Didn’t know there was anybody else as mischievious as me!)
Where did you find this?
There’s a FireFox addon called Stumble-Upon or Stumble that brings up random sites that have been noted by others as being view-worthy.
If you ever get bored, it’s great.
It’s very configurable, you can stumble just videos, pictures, music, books, whatever.
(My best known substitute for FR.)
But if you were to google “Shmily”, you would find that it is all over the web. Today just happened to be the first time I’ve seen it.
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