Wade K. Meyer Conversations
"You probably dont remember when you were five."
"Oh please, Grandpa, there are times when I cant remember last week."
"You used to delight in telling jokes?"
"At five?"
"At five. Some of them were the silliest things."
"Like what?"
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"Knock, knock."
"Whos there?"
"Banana."
"Banana who?" "Knock, knock."
"Whos there?" "Banana."
"Banana who?"
"Knock, knock."
"Whos there?"
"Orange."
"Orange who?"
"Orange you glad I didnt say banana?!"
"Thats very funny, Michelle. Where did you learn such funny jokes?"
"I have a book of jokes. It has Mickey Mouse on the front. Its my favorite."
"When I was growing up, I used to watch Mickey Mouse on television."
"Really?"
"Really. Of course, it was black and white back then."
"How old are you, Grandpa?"
"Im forty-five."
"Wow, youre old! Im five."
"Yes, I know. You just turned five."
"I wish we hadnt moved so far away."
"Well, it doesnt matter if you are near or far, you will always be my little Princess."
"And you will always be my handsome Prince."
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"Grandpa, how can you remember so much about me when I was just a little girl?" "We remember whats important to us, whether the events are good or bad."
"I was always your little Princess."
"You still are. I mean, youve grown, been married..." "Twice..."
"I know, and you have children now, but you will always be my little Princess."
"I want to thank you for letting me read your journal from when you were younger."
"Just the musings of a young boy. I really dont remember much of what I wrote. I am sure much of it was daily gibberish, boring beyond belief."
"But there are some really insightful parts. I have been reading it around the clock for the last two days." "Youve had the time?"
"I made the time."
"And you brought some of the passages with you?"
"Yes, I copied a few of them. Heres one."
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July 12, 1929
The morning is the best time to run barefoot in the grass. The cool dew does more than refresh the feet. It brings them back to life. Just look at the rose. The dew almost has to ask permission to sit there, as if it needed to say, "From one of Gods creations to another, may we join forces?" The rose answers yes, and the combination of the two has more power than they could possibly muster alone. It is the same peacefulness that I feel when I am with you. It is the same gentle peacefulness that I feel when I see a small child curled up sleeping in a mothers arms. Let us seek such peaceful moments. They are as rare as diamonds, but far more precious.
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"You were quite the romantic, quite the poet."
"There was little time for poetry or writing after that. Later that year, the stock market crashed, and the next several years were filled with sadness and poverty, night after night not knowing where our next meal was coming from." "But you endured, you survived..."
'Oh yes. We would not have considered doing anything else. The thought of giving in did not even enter our minds."
"You and Grandma were married by then?"
"Oh no. I was only sixteen in 1929. We got married in 1933. By then I was working and things were getting better."
"And you stayed married all those years, until she died?"
'As I said before, the thought of doing anything else would not have even entered our minds."
"Really?"
"No, of course there were times we looked at each other and wondered why in the world we ever got together, ever got married, but the decision had been made, and it was a contract. It was not a religious thing.."
"I dont understand."
"In the ceremony, we claim that God blesses the event. There is all this joy. There is all this pomp. There is the honeymoon, of course. But very quickly things settle into the routine of life. Jobs, children, financial worries, family events, and very quickly you become less of the impassioned couple and more of the two people who share the same name. And you need to deal with the ups and downs as though they are part of the mechanical package."
"Is this why most marriages dont work today?"
"Im not ready to answer that yet. Do you remember getting cut from the basketball team in the seventh grade?"
"How in the world did we get from marriage to middle school basketball?"
"Im old. Its both a failure of the mind and a privilege I invoke because of my age." "I havent thought about middle school for years. I dont remember much about it, except that I know I hated it."
"I will never forget that phone call."
"Phone call?"
"You called me to tell me that you had been cut from the team."
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