BEFORE THEY MET (My dad's story)

Before I tell you about my parent's 

love story I want to paint a little bit of the 
background of their lives 
before they met 
each other.

(picture: my dad as a child, how cute is this picture?)

All of my dad's grandparents migrated 

to our country from Sweden 
many, many years ago

(picture: my dad's parents before his mother passed away. 

He is riding in the cart)

 

His parents were born here

His mom was a nurse and his dad worked 

at the local newspaper office

(picture: My dad with his paternal grandfather) 

I believe my dad's paternal grandfather was 

a farmer and from what everyone told me that knew him he was a wonderful man. He used to put hard

candies in the chair he sat in for the family 

dog to find, making one happy dog I am sure.

After he passed away I am told the dog

would jump up in the chair and look real

sad (I am sure missing both her master 

and the candy he left for her.)

My dad got a lot of his love of animals and his

warm and gentle nature and probably odd sense 

of humor from this grandpa of his, I am sure.

His paternal grandmother gave birth to 10 children

Ancestors on his mother's side of the family 

also came over from Sweden years before.

My dad's maternal grandfather was a very 

successful man, married with 3 children 

from what I recall hearing.

He opened up a very lucrative painting company after he came over here from Sweden

as a young man. This business is still in operation. 

He also built many houses, renting them 

out to local families. I am sure that a lot of my dad's brilliant salesmanship qualities and other good 

business smarts were fashioned after 

this dear grandfather of his.

My dad was very close to his family, and used to talk about them all the time, proving just how

much he loved them all.

Times were hard and those were the days when families went on picnics every Sunday,

enjoyed long drives and took care of each other 

especially as they grew older.

(picture: Paternal grandparent's home)

My dad's mother passed away at an early

age. I believe my dad was only about 7 years old.

My dad had a wonderful, sometimes odd sense of humor and would chuckle when he told us about trying to sell frogs at his mother's funeral.  

But oh how he loved his mother.

My dad also had a younger sister

named Catherine.  She was a beautiful,

vibrant young lady from what I have been told but

her life was cut short when she was 

hit by an automobile head on 

while riding a horse. 

Even though he rarely spoke about this tragedy 

we could feel his heartbreak and 

knew this was one of the hardest times in his life.

(picture below: My dad and his sister before she

was in the accident)

My dad also had a step mother

and step brother. My dad's step brother

is still living and is a wonderful person.

As a child we would visit the family

back in their hometown and what

 I remember most about my uncle

is that he was so much like my dad

and their dad (my grandfather)

So very gentle and kind.

(picture: my dad and his stepbrother)

I hope you enjoyed reading about my father 

and a little bit about his early years.

I will be telling my mom's story 

as a child in the next few days.

Please come back for that story.

Honor your father and mother.

Then you will live a long, full life in

the land the LORD your God will give you.

                                      EXODUS 20:12 NLT

I am dedicating my blog to my parents

and their beautiful love story

that is just waiting to be told,

this month, all month long.. 

They were married 

64 years ago in

February.

Please check the previous posting

for earlier parts of this story

I am linking to: