Sometimes the imprints that are made on our lives are not by what is ours, or what we have or where we have been.  They are sometimes made from what we experience.  I want to tell you about a love story that I witnessed as a youngster in the back woods of Montgomery County.  A love story that you could probably make a movie out of, but then again, the characters are real and they are true and that is better than any movie.  This is the love story that endured many things that were not visible from the outside, but what was visible from the outside was true and unconditional love

I was blessed to grow up down a winding dirt road.  I was surrounded by family and friends that were hard working honest people that I admired then and that I admire now.  It is funny how I did not know what a divorce was until I started jr. high and that I never knew what step cousins or children were until even later in my life.  We were all family, cousins and friends with no exception.

The couple I want to tell you about right now hold a very special place in my heart.  This is a story about my Uncle Gerald and Aunt Wilma.  This seems like a very fitting story to tell as we approach Valentine’s Day. 

My Uncle Gerald and Aunt Wilma.  He was a character.  He was the jokester of the family and he had a smile that was so constant in our lives.  He had super good hugs and could make an old piece of yellow equipment do magic in the dirt.  He worked hard and he loved his family and he did all he could to provide for them.  But more than life he loved my Aunt Wilma.  Aunt Wilma was amazing.  She never was in a bad mood (or not to all us snotty nose kids).  She was tall and slender and had such beautiful fingers.  She made the best peanut butter icing on a chocolate cake you could ever ask for.  She folded cloths and placed them neatly in their place and she had a kind encouraging word for a wayward kid at all times.  It is a mystery the things our mind remembers from our childhood.  I have many more memories and thoughts of them but I would be here all night telling you about them.

The thing that was so amazing to me is how I can always remember my Aunt Wilma sitting beside my Uncle Gerald in that “old black truck” bouncing down the road.  I know she had to be uncomfortable – but she was there.  I bet there was not always heat or air – but she was there.  Sitting right beside him whether they were going to the store or to the post office in town (20+ miles away) she was there.  I remember one time him joking about he would not buy a car if Aunt Wilma could not sit beside him. In my thoughts now I think he was “serious”. 

Every picture you see with the two of them together they are holding hands.  AS I went through my pictures and tried to pick a few for this story, it was hard to decide which would honor them the most. 

I would give anything to have Aunt Wilma and Uncle Gerald’s old truck to restore, just to be able to sit in that seat and remember them there.  I would love to hear the conversations they had and the stories I am sure he told her time and time again.  To hear her say “Gerald Raymond” in that sweet way that she said it to him.

 You wonder why I love old cars so much – these old cars we drive have stories but the history they have involves real people.  I challenge you to make memories, show love and be constant reminders that true love exist.  It did truly exist to a country kid in the back woods of Montgomery County through my Aunt Wilma and Uncle Gerald.

Lovingly

MS OCD

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