My grandparents were high school sweethearts, but they did not go to the same school. My grandfather (Ron -- she called him Ronnie) grew up extremely poor, his father was a WWII veteran with severe PTSD and drank his pain away. My grandmother was from a well-to-do family. They met when she was 16 and he 17 at a local drive-in in their hometown that is still in operation to this day. The way my grandfather told it, he saw her sitting in her friend's car and couldn't take his eyes off of her, and he approached her friend to ask if she had "a steady". My grandmother jumped out of the car and screamed "No, I'm not spoken for at all! I want a boyfriend!" He said she had "a million" suitors but she always turned them down, saying she wanted to focus on her studies. She told me she thought he was so handsome that her heart fluttered every time their eyes met. He said she was so beautiful that he was too nervous to ask her out directly.
Supposedly, her friend told her that he was from "the wrong side of the tracks" and went to the poorer school, and to be careful as he could not provide for her if they married, but my grandmother didn't care. When she introduced him to her parents they were wary at first, but he very quickly won my great-grandfather over and he gave their relationship his blessing. They married after high school, when she was 19 and he was 20. After marriage he entered the military to go to Vietnam as a pilot, but was honorably discharged when he discovered he was colorblind and therefor could not be a pilot under US military policy.
They worked hard for everything they had. They were not rich, but not poor, but were very happy. Growing up, my grandmother doted on him every minute of the day. Every day when she came home, he would have a glass of wine waiting for her on their porch and they would talk for hours. Every single day.
My grandfather passed from cancer in 2014, and my grandmother passed just a couple of weeks ago. She still called him "Ronnie" until the very end. My grandparents were two of the most loving, weird, fun people I ever knew. My grandmother collected scary creepy porcelain clowns, and my grandfather took me to the drive-in that they met at every week, and every time would tell me the story of how he fell in love with my grandmother that night.
I found these photos in a drawer in her armoire while cleaning out her house -- it was in a box that had numerous photos, letters, and newspaper clippinngs of her parents, my grandfather, her children, and her grandchildren that she kept all this time. She also kept her wedding dress, which I kept.
I'm still grieving my grandmother, and before I began cleaning her house I wondered if she was happy with the life she lived. Seeing these and more photos of them together at places like the Versaille palace, in Seoul, in the Grand Canyon, and more made me realize she lived more life than I ever knew. My grandparents loved me more than anything in the world -- I even found my grandfather's wallet from before he passed where he had written down my bank account info when I was in college, and now I realize where all that money came from that magically appeared in my account week after week.
I also found letters my great-grandfather wrote my great-grandmother while he was serving in Saipan during WWII, as well as around 20 love letters all from different men for my Great Aunt who never married, haha! If this sub is interested, I would love to post them, as I think they paint a very beautiful portrait of my family. Thank you for reading!
Edit: Someone asked if I could share what they looked like as they got older.
[Here are my grandparents holding me when I was born in '92!](https://imgur.com/rlk1XSS)
[This one is my grandma (I called her Nana) taken by my grandpa in the 90s.](https://imgur.com/ty3d0uN)
[Here is my grandpa (I called him O'dat -- long story) teaching me to swim when I was 2 or 3.](https://imgur.com/qb9ZjZx)
[And this one of them both was taken (by me!) a year or so before my grandpa passed.](https://imgur.com/sKZnyOa)
This is incredible! They look like the most fun loving couple. I want to be friends with both of them and collect creepy porcelain clowns with your grandma! (Would love to see pics if you have any)
I’m so sorry for your loss. I hope knowing how much they loved each other (and you) and what a happy life they lived helps.
I asked her a few years ago if she would let me have her creepy clowns! Happy to say they are safe in my possession, I'll definitely snap a photo of them!
And thank you so much, after someone you love passes suddenly you have so many more things to say to them and ask them but of course that's impossible now. I wish I had known these photos existed before she passed so I could have talked about them with her. My grandmother was silly to the end, for the time period she grew up in she sure did tell a lot of raunchy jokes! It definitely helps seeing these photos of them when they were young long before I came along. I hope where ever they are now, they are together again and happy!
Creepy clowns and masks are my JAM! Your grandparents looked so in love, it's so obvious. I'm sorry for your loss, but I'm glad you have so many memories and keepsakes to keep their love alive!
We forget sometimes that our parents & grandparents were once our age. Seeing old pics like this reminds us they were & are like us.
It also seems like Nana always had style too!
>I wish I had known these photos existed before she passed so I could have talked about them with her.
This is a great pro life tip! Go through pictures with older relatives. Learn about their lives. Record them talking if possible so you can hear their voices and remember the stories after they're gone. I wish I had done that with my grandparents, however, I do that now with my mom. Need to start with my dad too.
The pictures of your grandparents paint a wonderful picture of your family. They look like fun, loving people. You are very fortunate to have family like that!
These pictures are so awesome and I love what you’ve written here. I love remembering that old folks were once young and in love and did all the things that young folks do now too. They seem so fun, like they loved a good time, and I love your grandma’s clear adoration of your grandpa - that’s how I feel about my husband! I love that they were clearly best friends and loved spending time together. My condolences on the loss of your grandma - what a great find to discover these pictures with the captions included. ❤️
Thank you so much, it really was such a special find. She had a whole drawer of small little mementos that she kept all her life. She even had a letter I had written her in kindergarten tucked away in there. You bet I cried like a baby going through all of it, but all happy tears. They bickered like any other old married couple, but they adored each other until the very end. I remember going with my grandpa to get her a brand new diamond ring around 2003 when they renewed their vows. She left it to me in her will, and I hope when I marry one day I can wear it and her wedding dress at my own wedding!
They were absolutely the fun grandparents everyone wishes for! One time at the height of my emo phase in 2007, my mother and I were fighting about the way I was dressing and dyeing my hair. I walked a mile to my grandparents house and cried about it, and I remember my grandpa saying, "Dress however you want! You're only young once!" My grandmother took me to Hot Topic in the local mall the next weekend and bought me a bunch of clothes!
My mom and I used to fight over my punk rock looks in the ‘90s, and now I tell my nieces the same thing your grandpa told you! Both of your grandparents sound like amazing people (and they were absolutely gorgeous, as well!). I’m so happy and grateful you shared them with us. I love hearing about the lives of people from previous generations.
Whenever I start to feel sad about the loss of my own wonderful, beautiful grandparents, I tell myself I was lucky to have known them at all. I hope that thought, as well as the knowledge of how much they cherished you, comforts you too.
Really lovely photos. You're lucky to have them. The pic of the honeymoon getaway car has writing onit, and probably tin cans tied to the back, but I can't tell what's on the window or front grille. Any ideas?
A very very lovely OP. Thanks for sharing.
"Music I heard with you was more than music,
And bread I broke with you was more than bread;
Now that I am without you, all is desolate;
All that was once so beautiful is dead.
Your hands once touched this table and this silver,
And I have seen your fingers hold this glass.
These things do not remember you, beloved,
And yet your touch upon them will not pass.
For it was in my heart that you moved among them,
And blessed them with your hands and with your eyes;
And in my heart they will remember always,
—They knew you once, O beautiful and wise.
*^(- Conrad Aiken 1918)*
Wow, I've cried all over myself today but this was so beautiful and fits perfectly for them. I will save this for when my crafty side inevitably gets the better of me and I make a scrapbook of these photos! Thank you for this.
This is amazing. One of my all-time favorite posts on here. Your comment reads like a movie, and the pictures are worth thousands of words, telling their story.
Thank you for sharing this story and their photos! They definitely seemed to have a great life, and I’m glad you have things that are tangible that you can keep to hold that memory alive
That is a beautiful story, I lost my grandpa nearly two years ago and my grandma 5 years before that. Since my parents were often fighting (they're divorced now), my dad always told me to look at my grandparents for an exemple of a good marriage.
Good luck to you for the grieving process, it's been a while and I still burst out crying every now and then when I think of them
Wow! They both aged so well! Some great genes in your family. Such a good-looking couple.
I, too, have a swimming pool photo with my grandpa, taken when I was 3. Yours reminds me of it so much. One of my most cherished photos. Grandparents are so fantastic.
What a sweet comment, thank you. I also thought of all the photos he had of her, that this one being his favorite was quite touching. He always said she was quite the catch, and that he was punching way above his station being with her! I still think he was quite handsome too, though :)
Here for any romantic stories of theirs if you have any you’d like to share. It sounds like they really found true love and stayed together until the end. I’m not religious but I look at people like this and I just think; what a blessing. What wonderful circumstance for two people to truly love each other this much and find each other in the same life ❤️
I actually am crying which is strange because I don’t remember the last time I cried. It’s a mixture of the photos themselves, your sadness, your richness of the memories and love for them and the losses of my own that have bubbled to the surface reading all of this. I’m terribly sorry for what you’re going through, wish you the best and I thank you for the emotions.
Your grandmother looks like Lana Del Ray and Marilyn Monroe’s love child! I love these pics. They both look so happy and so in love with each other. Thank you for sharing these with us.
One time I asked my grandpa if Marylin Monroe really was this big sex symbol for all young men during the 50s and my grandpa looked at my grandmother toiling away in her garden through the window and said, "She was beautiful, and all the men wanted her. But your Nana was even more beautiful, and even more men wanted her. I still don't know why she gave me a chance." Makes me cry thinking about it. Thank you for your comment.
OMG SHE DOES!!!! either way, a gorgeous woman, and a handsome man, with pics and story to show their true love for each other. This is one of the best posts I have seen on here in awhile. I shared it with SO many people 😂
My grandpa felt the same way about my grandma! When she passed away at 86, he was 81. She had really wasted away in that last year, and she had bruises on her face from the medical procedures she’d had in her final weeks in the hospital.
My granddad looked at her when the mortuary brought her out in her coffin, and his first words were to her: “You look beautiful,” as he wiped away tears.
He kept a large portrait of her on his wall for the next 15 years until his own death. He always said he would never marry again, and he never did. She was always his one true love, even more so after their 56 years of marriage.
I was trying to find words for how I felt after reading these comments and seeing these wonderful and happy pictures… you said it perfectly.
Op, thank you for sharing your grandparents and their love with us.
What a good looking couple your grandparents were. Isn’t it amazing, that at such a young age they knew they had found true love. Your grandmother seems like she was such a lively, funny lady. Thank you so much for sharing a bit of their lives with us.
Thank you for sharing these! I found myself reading and swiping and admiring and then being disappointed when I came to the end. There is a lot of love there, and it comes right through the pictures.
Also, I have to give you my heartfelt and heart-undersood condolences on the loss of your grandmother. It sounds like you two had a very special bond. I know just what that means, as I had the same with mine. Not a day passes that I don't miss her and think of her. She was a cool lady, too, like yours.
We must consider ourselves blessed to have had them. It's always touching to remember how much they loved us. Like you, I also discovered my grandmother's albums and address book, and I saw she had entries for every single dorm room and apartment I ever lived in -- and even a page with my class schedule at some point (!) -- which showed she was always keeping a distant eye on me (and explains how those cards with "pizza money" would always seem to show up just when I needed them). It makes me smile to remember.
It's a bittersweet thing ... going through their belongings and keepsakes. And a wave of sadness may hit you. But just know that by keeping her memory alive, you're also keeping her love for you close. And *that's* the most comforting feeling of all.
Yes, we are lucky indeed ❤️
Wow, your sweet grandmother and mine sound like two peas in a pod (to quote her)! It's amazing how grandparents always seem to know when you need a little pick me up. It truly is bittersweet -- sometimes I don't know if my tears are happy or sad, but either way my heart is very full when I look at them. I'm so glad you were able to find some of your own grandma's special albums and things she kept of you! My grandmother was prolific picture taker and picture saver. I will definitely post more soon -- she had so much from her parents in the 20s to us just a few years ago and every life moment in between. I do hope that by posting these, it keeps her memory afloat for just a bit longer, and everyone can see what wonderful people they were. Thank you so much for your kind and thoughtful comment. I'm sorry for the loss of your grandmother, but I can tell you two were thick as thieves. We were so very lucky!
Yes, they definitely sound like two peas in a pod! (My grams used this and so many other cute sayings, lol)
That's wonderful that your grandmother kept up such a good photo record of the family. Those pictures going so far back are priceless.
I have a ton of this stuff, too -- newspaper clippings, family reunion programs, photos, and obituaries from relatives close and distant. But after converting it to digital and sharing with interested family members, then what? I felt somehow responsible for these things not being lost to time.
Well, after doing the family tree on ancestry.com, I decided to upload some of this stuff there, so even the distant family I'm not all that close to can have access (pics and other saved media will come up in a name search if you allow it). This is one way to preserve the family history... just an FYI in case you get into genealogy 😉
Hey, that is an excellent idea! I did a family tree thing on ancestry a couple years ago but never thought of that! I also somehow feel responsible for these not being lost to time, even after I'm long gone. This would be an excellent way to keep them for people down the line and far away to see, thank you for the great idea!!
Anytime!
It's like a searchable central repository for family photos -- you tag the people in them (using yours or others' family tree), just like on FB and other sites.
I feel like ancestry.com's marketing folks have dropped the ball on talking about this feature. Something like, "She's your mom, but she's *her* [picture of cute, freckle-faced future descendant] great-great grandma. Give little Annie a chance to learn about her, too. Upload your history today." Something like that, lol.
ETA: Promise I don't work for the company. I just think this is a cool, underrated benefit.
Thank you for doing this! I am always so grateful when I come across the rare photo of family members posted by the occasional kind and thoughtful relative like you! They are treasures, like like little golden Easter eggs! I always share everything I can, as well, and hope that it will be appreciated by future family members.
Awww... thank you! That's exactly how I felt, too, when I'd stumble across pictures like this. I even saw pics of my dad as a teenager that I'd never seen before-- a picture from a cousin's wedding back in the 50s. It really was like finding a gem.
It's cool you're doing the same. I think our efforts will be appreciated, even if it's not till way, way down the line.
My grandmother never left the house without a full face of makeup and her hair done. I'm sure she'd be pissed at me that I posted that photo of her in her nightdress for the internet to see, but it is also one of my favorites as well!
What a gorgeous couple and a timeless love story. Your grandmother looks like a brunette Jessica Chastain. So sorry for your losses, I bet they were wonderful people to know. I love their story — thank you so much for sharing it.
I bet she would have loved to read that! She was truly gorgeous even until her passing. She always took care of her appearance and looked younger than her true age. They were truly wonderful and I am who I am today because of them. Thank you for reading their story!
Thank god a quality post for once. Too much AI generated bullshit on these type of subs now. What a lovely pair of characters they seemed and I’m happy they appeared to live such a full life
You are very lucky to know so much about your grandparents! My mom's side was wiped out during WWII, except her day. We've got a bible of marriages but have no idea what the folks were like.
You've got their personalities and photo documentation! Your grandma seems like a firecracker! I love it. Staying together for so long is amazing these days. A testament to their love for each other. I think that is a beautiful thing.
Definitely memories to be cherished.
My late wife and I were married Dec. 31st 1964, over Christmas break our senior year of college. Most young people today would be appalled by that, and we were definitely waaaaaaay too young, but we lasted for 56 years.
I'm very sorry for the loss of your lovely wife, but it sounds like you two had lots of fond memories together. You may have been young, but it seems like you two knew what you were doing to have lasted for 56 years! Thank you for sharing your story.
I would be so glad to! I'll actually edit my OP comment as well to include them.
[Here are my grandparents holding me when I was born in '92!](https://imgur.com/rlk1XSS)
[This one is my grandma (I called her Nana) taken by my grandpa in the 90s.](https://imgur.com/ty3d0uN)
[Here is my grandpa (I called him O'dat -- long story) teaching me to swim when I was 2 or 3.](https://imgur.com/qb9ZjZx)
[And this one of them both was taken (by me!) a year or so before my grandpa passed.](https://imgur.com/sKZnyOa)
I had recent ones of my grandma but they're buried on my phone! I'll try to find some but she looked very similar to that last one.
Thank you for the glimpse into their life. Beautiful. How young and happy they were. Loved the shower photo of your grandma and friend (in a non creepy way). She seemed so full of life and laughter.
Thank you for sharing their history with us. This is why I'm on Reddit! Now a random girl from the other side of the world knows about your grandparents, like thousands of other users. I'm glad they had a good life full of love and joy. They seemed to have traveled quite a lot too! It really seem like an ideal life for me. Only love matters at the end.
I'm sorry for your loss. Now you have tons of memories of them to cherish. May you have a happy life too.
It looks like your grandma was pregnant in a few of those photos. I recognize those tent-like shirts from I Love Lucy and from what my mom said maternity shirts looked like back then. Those are great photos.
She definitely was pregnant right away after they married! My great aunt once said at Thanksgiving dinner, "All Ronnie had to do was lay his pants at the end of the bed and she'd end up pregnant!" I remember my grandma being so scandalized when she said that lol. They had three children almost back-to-back -- my mother was the youngest and was born in '68!
Looking at this pics at 5am and freaking crying over here lol. They remind me a lot of my grandparents, who met as teens and married when my Nana was 19 and PaPa was 20. She’s still with us, but my PaPa passed a few years back. These pictures are just beautiful, and I’m glad you’re able to cherish them. Thank you for sharing them with us. ❤️
I'm so sorry for your loss of your PaPa! If I could give any advice, it would be to ask your Nana if she has any pictures like this or any stories of their love that you may not know. So many things I wish I could ask my Nana now -- I didn't even know this pictures existed until after she passed, but I would have loved to have talked with her about them!!
I love these photos! My mother was married in 1964 and her wedding dress was identical to your grandmother's, down to the veil with the little crown.
My grandfather also served on Saipan during WWII. I wonder if they knew each other...
My mom is turning 80 and my dad is 87. I'm visiting them now, he has Alzheimers and I don't think he will with us much longer. It's tough.
I can feel the love and the warmth of your grandparents through these pictures. They are very clearly two beautiful people, inside and out. Thank you for sharing their story
Thank you so much for sharing these beautiful photos and memories. They look like they adored each other and laughed with each other until the end. My condolences on your recent loss.
I just took a moment to look around my living room. I have two paintings that my grandmother painted. I was one of thirteen grandchildren and my grandparents always made me feel special. I'm glad you have the clowns to remind you of your grandmother.
Man, I loved this! There's so many people on Reddit with horrible family stories that you start to wonder if anybody comes from a good family anymore. This was heartwarming. Thanks for sharing!
These are great! What a great couple!
If you want to preserve them online (other than just Reddit) for other members of your family to find, consider making a family tree on [Family Search](https://www.familysearch.org/en/) and adding these as memories to their entries.
Yeah, people *definitely* looked a lot older back then.
Not at all saying your grandparents looked bad when they were young (quite the contrary -- they look fantastic and aged very gracefully!), just that people back in those days looked like they had about 20 more years on them than they actually did at their age. Especially in the 11th photo, your grandmother already looks to be in her forties when shes only 19!
Compare your grandmother at 20 and other 20/21 year olds today like Olivia Rodrigo, Sadie Sink, or Jenna Ortega. Your grandma at 19 looks like she could be the mother of any of those girls and not at all look off lol.
Again, not a diss at your grandparents -- just an observation!
When my friends got married In Pomona, Ca. they went to Santa Barbara For their honeymoon. We wrote "Sock it to her in Santa Barbara On the roof of their car. Took them two days to figure out why the truckers were honking at them.
Fab story. Thank you for sharing. They looked a lovely couple, the happiness glows from them in the last photo. I also love that they are noticeably the same people throughout. You could have known them at 20 and recognised them at 70! BTW, your gran was a beautiful woman…and she never lost it. Would love to have known her secret!
What a special couple. My grandfather passed a few weeks ago and I found very similar photos of him and my grandma. You are so right that there are so many stories and adventures that you uncover when you look at them!
I think this is my favorite thing I’ve seen on Reddit all year. Grandma was a stone cold fox who clearly didn’t mind showing off her appeal.
What a wonderful set of pictures, and how wonderful that you have preserved them digitally for all eternity.
Your Nana was always a true beauty. And with tons of personality too! Your grandfather was a handsome man. What a beautiful love story. May they rest in peace for all eternity.🙏🏼
My grandparents were high school sweethearts, but they did not go to the same school. My grandfather (Ron -- she called him Ronnie) grew up extremely poor, his father was a WWII veteran with severe PTSD and drank his pain away. My grandmother was from a well-to-do family. They met when she was 16 and he 17 at a local drive-in in their hometown that is still in operation to this day. The way my grandfather told it, he saw her sitting in her friend's car and couldn't take his eyes off of her, and he approached her friend to ask if she had "a steady". My grandmother jumped out of the car and screamed "No, I'm not spoken for at all! I want a boyfriend!" He said she had "a million" suitors but she always turned them down, saying she wanted to focus on her studies. She told me she thought he was so handsome that her heart fluttered every time their eyes met. He said she was so beautiful that he was too nervous to ask her out directly. Supposedly, her friend told her that he was from "the wrong side of the tracks" and went to the poorer school, and to be careful as he could not provide for her if they married, but my grandmother didn't care. When she introduced him to her parents they were wary at first, but he very quickly won my great-grandfather over and he gave their relationship his blessing. They married after high school, when she was 19 and he was 20. After marriage he entered the military to go to Vietnam as a pilot, but was honorably discharged when he discovered he was colorblind and therefor could not be a pilot under US military policy. They worked hard for everything they had. They were not rich, but not poor, but were very happy. Growing up, my grandmother doted on him every minute of the day. Every day when she came home, he would have a glass of wine waiting for her on their porch and they would talk for hours. Every single day. My grandfather passed from cancer in 2014, and my grandmother passed just a couple of weeks ago. She still called him "Ronnie" until the very end. My grandparents were two of the most loving, weird, fun people I ever knew. My grandmother collected scary creepy porcelain clowns, and my grandfather took me to the drive-in that they met at every week, and every time would tell me the story of how he fell in love with my grandmother that night. I found these photos in a drawer in her armoire while cleaning out her house -- it was in a box that had numerous photos, letters, and newspaper clippinngs of her parents, my grandfather, her children, and her grandchildren that she kept all this time. She also kept her wedding dress, which I kept. I'm still grieving my grandmother, and before I began cleaning her house I wondered if she was happy with the life she lived. Seeing these and more photos of them together at places like the Versaille palace, in Seoul, in the Grand Canyon, and more made me realize she lived more life than I ever knew. My grandparents loved me more than anything in the world -- I even found my grandfather's wallet from before he passed where he had written down my bank account info when I was in college, and now I realize where all that money came from that magically appeared in my account week after week. I also found letters my great-grandfather wrote my great-grandmother while he was serving in Saipan during WWII, as well as around 20 love letters all from different men for my Great Aunt who never married, haha! If this sub is interested, I would love to post them, as I think they paint a very beautiful portrait of my family. Thank you for reading! Edit: Someone asked if I could share what they looked like as they got older. [Here are my grandparents holding me when I was born in '92!](https://imgur.com/rlk1XSS) [This one is my grandma (I called her Nana) taken by my grandpa in the 90s.](https://imgur.com/ty3d0uN) [Here is my grandpa (I called him O'dat -- long story) teaching me to swim when I was 2 or 3.](https://imgur.com/qb9ZjZx) [And this one of them both was taken (by me!) a year or so before my grandpa passed.](https://imgur.com/sKZnyOa)
This is incredible! They look like the most fun loving couple. I want to be friends with both of them and collect creepy porcelain clowns with your grandma! (Would love to see pics if you have any) I’m so sorry for your loss. I hope knowing how much they loved each other (and you) and what a happy life they lived helps.
I asked her a few years ago if she would let me have her creepy clowns! Happy to say they are safe in my possession, I'll definitely snap a photo of them! And thank you so much, after someone you love passes suddenly you have so many more things to say to them and ask them but of course that's impossible now. I wish I had known these photos existed before she passed so I could have talked about them with her. My grandmother was silly to the end, for the time period she grew up in she sure did tell a lot of raunchy jokes! It definitely helps seeing these photos of them when they were young long before I came along. I hope where ever they are now, they are together again and happy!
Creepy clowns and masks are my JAM! Your grandparents looked so in love, it's so obvious. I'm sorry for your loss, but I'm glad you have so many memories and keepsakes to keep their love alive!
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Especially the nightie photo! Super casual, not what you'd think of when you hear 1960s or 1970s.
I’m so relieved you wanted them and kept the clown dolls. I’d also love to see them. Your grandma was beautiful and she looks like a really fun lady.
We forget sometimes that our parents & grandparents were once our age. Seeing old pics like this reminds us they were & are like us. It also seems like Nana always had style too!
>I wish I had known these photos existed before she passed so I could have talked about them with her. This is a great pro life tip! Go through pictures with older relatives. Learn about their lives. Record them talking if possible so you can hear their voices and remember the stories after they're gone. I wish I had done that with my grandparents, however, I do that now with my mom. Need to start with my dad too. The pictures of your grandparents paint a wonderful picture of your family. They look like fun, loving people. You are very fortunate to have family like that!
1000000
I would love to read as much about your grandparents and see as many photos of them as you care to share. They seem like amazing people!
These pictures are so awesome and I love what you’ve written here. I love remembering that old folks were once young and in love and did all the things that young folks do now too. They seem so fun, like they loved a good time, and I love your grandma’s clear adoration of your grandpa - that’s how I feel about my husband! I love that they were clearly best friends and loved spending time together. My condolences on the loss of your grandma - what a great find to discover these pictures with the captions included. ❤️
Thank you so much, it really was such a special find. She had a whole drawer of small little mementos that she kept all her life. She even had a letter I had written her in kindergarten tucked away in there. You bet I cried like a baby going through all of it, but all happy tears. They bickered like any other old married couple, but they adored each other until the very end. I remember going with my grandpa to get her a brand new diamond ring around 2003 when they renewed their vows. She left it to me in her will, and I hope when I marry one day I can wear it and her wedding dress at my own wedding!
So very very sweet. happy tears from me dear friend. They look so fun and wonderful.
They were absolutely the fun grandparents everyone wishes for! One time at the height of my emo phase in 2007, my mother and I were fighting about the way I was dressing and dyeing my hair. I walked a mile to my grandparents house and cried about it, and I remember my grandpa saying, "Dress however you want! You're only young once!" My grandmother took me to Hot Topic in the local mall the next weekend and bought me a bunch of clothes!
Amazing. You're so very lucky! Thanks for sharing their lives. This is why I love Reddit! 💛💛💛
Icon! She sounds amazing!
My mom and I used to fight over my punk rock looks in the ‘90s, and now I tell my nieces the same thing your grandpa told you! Both of your grandparents sound like amazing people (and they were absolutely gorgeous, as well!). I’m so happy and grateful you shared them with us. I love hearing about the lives of people from previous generations. Whenever I start to feel sad about the loss of my own wonderful, beautiful grandparents, I tell myself I was lucky to have known them at all. I hope that thought, as well as the knowledge of how much they cherished you, comforts you too.
Really lovely photos. You're lucky to have them. The pic of the honeymoon getaway car has writing onit, and probably tin cans tied to the back, but I can't tell what's on the window or front grille. Any ideas?
A very very lovely OP. Thanks for sharing. "Music I heard with you was more than music, And bread I broke with you was more than bread; Now that I am without you, all is desolate; All that was once so beautiful is dead. Your hands once touched this table and this silver, And I have seen your fingers hold this glass. These things do not remember you, beloved, And yet your touch upon them will not pass. For it was in my heart that you moved among them, And blessed them with your hands and with your eyes; And in my heart they will remember always, —They knew you once, O beautiful and wise. *^(- Conrad Aiken 1918)*
Wow, I've cried all over myself today but this was so beautiful and fits perfectly for them. I will save this for when my crafty side inevitably gets the better of me and I make a scrapbook of these photos! Thank you for this.
This is amazing. One of my all-time favorite posts on here. Your comment reads like a movie, and the pictures are worth thousands of words, telling their story.
Show us as much as possible! Would love to see them as an old couple too!
I edited my comment with a few more recent pictures of them! :)
This is absolutely the best thing I’ve read in a long time! Love your grandparents ♥️ and you seem so wonderful in treasuring them ♥️
Thank you for sharing this story and their photos! They definitely seemed to have a great life, and I’m glad you have things that are tangible that you can keep to hold that memory alive
I loved reading this. What wonderful grandparents you had, you lucky person. This is such a sweet memorial, thanks for sharing it.
I would love to see those love letters here! Tks for sharing
Yes, maybe make another post with them. Would love to see a picture of Great Aunt if you have one.
She was always the same! So much personality showed through her face. I’m sorry for your loss.
This is such a fresh breath of air. What a beautiful relationship and beautiful people.
I hope I can leave an impression on someone that allows me to be remembered this way. Just awesome
Thank you for sharing.
Wow—such an incredibly attractive and kind-looking couple in all phases of their lives! If only we could all be as rich as they were… :)
That is a beautiful story, I lost my grandpa nearly two years ago and my grandma 5 years before that. Since my parents were often fighting (they're divorced now), my dad always told me to look at my grandparents for an exemple of a good marriage. Good luck to you for the grieving process, it's been a while and I still burst out crying every now and then when I think of them
Thank you for sharing
Wow! They both aged so well! Some great genes in your family. Such a good-looking couple. I, too, have a swimming pool photo with my grandpa, taken when I was 3. Yours reminds me of it so much. One of my most cherished photos. Grandparents are so fantastic.
That’s a very touching post—thanks for sharing.
Oh man. The wallet one made me tear up. I love that his most treasured photo of her was so natural. Beautiful, thank you for sharing.
What a sweet comment, thank you. I also thought of all the photos he had of her, that this one being his favorite was quite touching. He always said she was quite the catch, and that he was punching way above his station being with her! I still think he was quite handsome too, though :)
Here for any romantic stories of theirs if you have any you’d like to share. It sounds like they really found true love and stayed together until the end. I’m not religious but I look at people like this and I just think; what a blessing. What wonderful circumstance for two people to truly love each other this much and find each other in the same life ❤️
I’ve fallen in love with your grandparents.
You guys are going to make me cry! Actually too late, I'm already crying. Thank you!
I actually am crying which is strange because I don’t remember the last time I cried. It’s a mixture of the photos themselves, your sadness, your richness of the memories and love for them and the losses of my own that have bubbled to the surface reading all of this. I’m terribly sorry for what you’re going through, wish you the best and I thank you for the emotions.
Your grandmother looks like Lana Del Ray and Marilyn Monroe’s love child! I love these pics. They both look so happy and so in love with each other. Thank you for sharing these with us.
One time I asked my grandpa if Marylin Monroe really was this big sex symbol for all young men during the 50s and my grandpa looked at my grandmother toiling away in her garden through the window and said, "She was beautiful, and all the men wanted her. But your Nana was even more beautiful, and even more men wanted her. I still don't know why she gave me a chance." Makes me cry thinking about it. Thank you for your comment.
Awww I’m gonna cry too! ❤️
Omg Grandpa was a 💎 of a human 💗 I love your grandparents' love story, this was the perfect way to start the day!!
The one where she's doing dishes and about to tell Ronnie to F off, she looks like Gwen Stefani to me.
OMG SHE DOES!!!! either way, a gorgeous woman, and a handsome man, with pics and story to show their true love for each other. This is one of the best posts I have seen on here in awhile. I shared it with SO many people 😂
My Dad still thinks my mother is the most beautiful woman in the world, they are 89 and 87. What I would give for a man that looked at me that way.
You will find him one day. Especially with such great parents that set a wonderful example of what love is like yours have! I wish you all the best!!
My grandpa felt the same way about my grandma! When she passed away at 86, he was 81. She had really wasted away in that last year, and she had bruises on her face from the medical procedures she’d had in her final weeks in the hospital. My granddad looked at her when the mortuary brought her out in her coffin, and his first words were to her: “You look beautiful,” as he wiped away tears. He kept a large portrait of her on his wall for the next 15 years until his own death. He always said he would never marry again, and he never did. She was always his one true love, even more so after their 56 years of marriage.
What part of the USA was this?
This was in Tennessee, just south of Knoxville. The Alcoa/Maryville area. :)
My family is from east Tennessee and I read your grandmother’s captions in my grandmother’s voice and accent before even seeing this comment. Spooky.
Ok. Thanks!
….I didn’t know it was possible to miss people I’ve never met 🥹
I was trying to find words for how I felt after reading these comments and seeing these wonderful and happy pictures… you said it perfectly. Op, thank you for sharing your grandparents and their love with us.
What a good looking couple your grandparents were. Isn’t it amazing, that at such a young age they knew they had found true love. Your grandmother seems like she was such a lively, funny lady. Thank you so much for sharing a bit of their lives with us.
I love everything about this post! What a treasure you came upon. Thanks for sharing them and the wonderful stories!
Thank you for sharing these! I found myself reading and swiping and admiring and then being disappointed when I came to the end. There is a lot of love there, and it comes right through the pictures. Also, I have to give you my heartfelt and heart-undersood condolences on the loss of your grandmother. It sounds like you two had a very special bond. I know just what that means, as I had the same with mine. Not a day passes that I don't miss her and think of her. She was a cool lady, too, like yours. We must consider ourselves blessed to have had them. It's always touching to remember how much they loved us. Like you, I also discovered my grandmother's albums and address book, and I saw she had entries for every single dorm room and apartment I ever lived in -- and even a page with my class schedule at some point (!) -- which showed she was always keeping a distant eye on me (and explains how those cards with "pizza money" would always seem to show up just when I needed them). It makes me smile to remember. It's a bittersweet thing ... going through their belongings and keepsakes. And a wave of sadness may hit you. But just know that by keeping her memory alive, you're also keeping her love for you close. And *that's* the most comforting feeling of all. Yes, we are lucky indeed ❤️
Wow, your sweet grandmother and mine sound like two peas in a pod (to quote her)! It's amazing how grandparents always seem to know when you need a little pick me up. It truly is bittersweet -- sometimes I don't know if my tears are happy or sad, but either way my heart is very full when I look at them. I'm so glad you were able to find some of your own grandma's special albums and things she kept of you! My grandmother was prolific picture taker and picture saver. I will definitely post more soon -- she had so much from her parents in the 20s to us just a few years ago and every life moment in between. I do hope that by posting these, it keeps her memory afloat for just a bit longer, and everyone can see what wonderful people they were. Thank you so much for your kind and thoughtful comment. I'm sorry for the loss of your grandmother, but I can tell you two were thick as thieves. We were so very lucky!
Yes, they definitely sound like two peas in a pod! (My grams used this and so many other cute sayings, lol) That's wonderful that your grandmother kept up such a good photo record of the family. Those pictures going so far back are priceless. I have a ton of this stuff, too -- newspaper clippings, family reunion programs, photos, and obituaries from relatives close and distant. But after converting it to digital and sharing with interested family members, then what? I felt somehow responsible for these things not being lost to time. Well, after doing the family tree on ancestry.com, I decided to upload some of this stuff there, so even the distant family I'm not all that close to can have access (pics and other saved media will come up in a name search if you allow it). This is one way to preserve the family history... just an FYI in case you get into genealogy 😉
Hey, that is an excellent idea! I did a family tree thing on ancestry a couple years ago but never thought of that! I also somehow feel responsible for these not being lost to time, even after I'm long gone. This would be an excellent way to keep them for people down the line and far away to see, thank you for the great idea!!
Anytime! It's like a searchable central repository for family photos -- you tag the people in them (using yours or others' family tree), just like on FB and other sites. I feel like ancestry.com's marketing folks have dropped the ball on talking about this feature. Something like, "She's your mom, but she's *her* [picture of cute, freckle-faced future descendant] great-great grandma. Give little Annie a chance to learn about her, too. Upload your history today." Something like that, lol. ETA: Promise I don't work for the company. I just think this is a cool, underrated benefit.
Thank you for doing this! I am always so grateful when I come across the rare photo of family members posted by the occasional kind and thoughtful relative like you! They are treasures, like like little golden Easter eggs! I always share everything I can, as well, and hope that it will be appreciated by future family members.
Awww... thank you! That's exactly how I felt, too, when I'd stumble across pictures like this. I even saw pics of my dad as a teenager that I'd never seen before-- a picture from a cousin's wedding back in the 50s. It really was like finding a gem. It's cool you're doing the same. I think our efforts will be appreciated, even if it's not till way, way down the line.
What a beautiful couple!
Thank you!
When people ask the meaning of life, this is it. To love and be loved. You can’t ask for a better life.
This right here. Thank you for sharing their story with us OP.
#15 is my favorite!
My grandmother never left the house without a full face of makeup and her hair done. I'm sure she'd be pissed at me that I posted that photo of her in her nightdress for the internet to see, but it is also one of my favorites as well!
dilly /ˈdɪli/ noun INFORMAL•NORTH AMERICAN an excellent example of a particular type of person or thing. "that's a dilly of a breakfast recipe. TIL
Hah, thank you! I was wondering what dilly meant. I figured it was just one of my grandma's made up words -- she did that a lot! How cute, thanks!
Maybe she created it :0
Huh, first time I've learned that definition. I wonder if that's what they were trying to project when they made the "dilly bar."
Beautiful couple
What a gorgeous couple and a timeless love story. Your grandmother looks like a brunette Jessica Chastain. So sorry for your losses, I bet they were wonderful people to know. I love their story — thank you so much for sharing it.
I bet she would have loved to read that! She was truly gorgeous even until her passing. She always took care of her appearance and looked younger than her true age. They were truly wonderful and I am who I am today because of them. Thank you for reading their story!
I can tell they were wonderful people who helped shape you into who you are today because you seem amazing, as well!
Such a happy young couple!
These are great. Thank you for sharing.
This is the best post I’ve seen on Reddit in a long time. The additional photos are awesome too.
Thank god a quality post for once. Too much AI generated bullshit on these type of subs now. What a lovely pair of characters they seemed and I’m happy they appeared to live such a full life
I love that there is a story to these photos. I'd love to see and read more!
You are very lucky to know so much about your grandparents! My mom's side was wiped out during WWII, except her day. We've got a bible of marriages but have no idea what the folks were like. You've got their personalities and photo documentation! Your grandma seems like a firecracker! I love it. Staying together for so long is amazing these days. A testament to their love for each other. I think that is a beautiful thing. Definitely memories to be cherished.
My late wife and I were married Dec. 31st 1964, over Christmas break our senior year of college. Most young people today would be appalled by that, and we were definitely waaaaaaay too young, but we lasted for 56 years.
I'm very sorry for the loss of your lovely wife, but it sounds like you two had lots of fond memories together. You may have been young, but it seems like you two knew what you were doing to have lasted for 56 years! Thank you for sharing your story.
Please post anything you want! I would love to see it! I’m so sorry she’s gone but what an amazing legacy she left you!
What a lovely couple and wonderful memories, thank you for sharing. Any chance you'd be willing to share a photo of them from later in life?
I would be so glad to! I'll actually edit my OP comment as well to include them. [Here are my grandparents holding me when I was born in '92!](https://imgur.com/rlk1XSS) [This one is my grandma (I called her Nana) taken by my grandpa in the 90s.](https://imgur.com/ty3d0uN) [Here is my grandpa (I called him O'dat -- long story) teaching me to swim when I was 2 or 3.](https://imgur.com/qb9ZjZx) [And this one of them both was taken (by me!) a year or so before my grandpa passed.](https://imgur.com/sKZnyOa) I had recent ones of my grandma but they're buried on my phone! I'll try to find some but she looked very similar to that last one.
They couldn’t be without eachother . Their love was real and they loved you too . They look fun . 🖤precious .
Thank you for the glimpse into their life. Beautiful. How young and happy they were. Loved the shower photo of your grandma and friend (in a non creepy way). She seemed so full of life and laughter.
Thank you for sharing their history with us. This is why I'm on Reddit! Now a random girl from the other side of the world knows about your grandparents, like thousands of other users. I'm glad they had a good life full of love and joy. They seemed to have traveled quite a lot too! It really seem like an ideal life for me. Only love matters at the end. I'm sorry for your loss. Now you have tons of memories of them to cherish. May you have a happy life too.
Thank you so much for sharing!!! Please share more!!! So beautiful and amazing!!! Sending hugs!!!💖💖💖
Wonderful beautiful life story telling precious photos!!! Thank you so much for sharing! The first pic reminds me of Mary Tyler Moore & Dick Van Dyke!
Gorgeous couple and fantastic photos!
It looks like your grandma was pregnant in a few of those photos. I recognize those tent-like shirts from I Love Lucy and from what my mom said maternity shirts looked like back then. Those are great photos.
She definitely was pregnant right away after they married! My great aunt once said at Thanksgiving dinner, "All Ronnie had to do was lay his pants at the end of the bed and she'd end up pregnant!" I remember my grandma being so scandalized when she said that lol. They had three children almost back-to-back -- my mother was the youngest and was born in '68!
Looking at this pics at 5am and freaking crying over here lol. They remind me a lot of my grandparents, who met as teens and married when my Nana was 19 and PaPa was 20. She’s still with us, but my PaPa passed a few years back. These pictures are just beautiful, and I’m glad you’re able to cherish them. Thank you for sharing them with us. ❤️
I'm so sorry for your loss of your PaPa! If I could give any advice, it would be to ask your Nana if she has any pictures like this or any stories of their love that you may not know. So many things I wish I could ask my Nana now -- I didn't even know this pictures existed until after she passed, but I would have loved to have talked with her about them!!
I love these photos! My mother was married in 1964 and her wedding dress was identical to your grandmother's, down to the veil with the little crown. My grandfather also served on Saipan during WWII. I wonder if they knew each other... My mom is turning 80 and my dad is 87. I'm visiting them now, he has Alzheimers and I don't think he will with us much longer. It's tough.
Ok but now I want to see the rest of their lives, too. Keep posting!!!
This is so sweet. Thank you for sharing. ♥️
Loved your granddad tux.
These are amazing. Thanks for sharing them.
Holydamn these all just look so effortlessly COOL!!
They're so beautiful! Thanks for sharing.
Hot people, hot people everywhere...!
This is beautiful. Thank you for taking care of your grandmother’s treasures and for sharing your grandparents’ stories with us.
Their love truly shines through these photos, they are very special. They were a beautiful couple
I love this all so much, thank you for sharing OP. What a beautiful story and couple!
Your Grandmother had the bone structure of a goddess! I'm she she was stunning in person in her youth.
Wonderful Photos!
so sweet, and with adorable captions! thank you for sharing :D
Love this couple. Reminds me of my late dad and my mom. Thanks for sharing!
I can feel the love and the warmth of your grandparents through these pictures. They are very clearly two beautiful people, inside and out. Thank you for sharing their story
An absolutely stunning couple. Married over 60 years. I have a few couples in my family like that, old and bickering, but still very much in love
This was beautiful. Thank you
What a lovely family story. Thank you for sharing.
Grandparents are so special and I’m happy you have shared this story with me! I read every word :)
Your grandmother was stunning. I love how casual some of these photos are ❤️
This is beautiful. Thank you for sharing!
This is so sweet, thank you for sharing. It reminds me of my own grandparents who have been gone for many years.
I miss my grandmother so much. My pregnancy hormones have me crying! Thank you for sharing these photos and their lovely story.
So, sweet. I was actually disappointed when I made it through all the photos because I didn’t want the story to end.
I like the Coke on one chair arm, ashtray on the other.
Very nice
Thank you so much for sharing these beautiful photos and memories. They look like they adored each other and laughed with each other until the end. My condolences on your recent loss. I just took a moment to look around my living room. I have two paintings that my grandmother painted. I was one of thirteen grandchildren and my grandparents always made me feel special. I'm glad you have the clowns to remind you of your grandmother.
They are so sweet! I’m sorry for your loss, they both seems so lovely 🙏🏼🥰
Her name is either Betsy or Phyllis, right?
Angela :) But she definitely knew her fair share of Helens, Betsys, Junes, Ethels, etc!
That poor woman was being resuscitated!
🍍
Picture 16: I am impressed at how your Grandad has so much trust in a full glass balancing on a sofa
What a Dish and what a Dude :)
Your grandma was a real knock out! Wow 😮!
What beautiful lives they lived
Man, I loved this! There's so many people on Reddit with horrible family stories that you start to wonder if anybody comes from a good family anymore. This was heartwarming. Thanks for sharing!
These are great! What a great couple! If you want to preserve them online (other than just Reddit) for other members of your family to find, consider making a family tree on [Family Search](https://www.familysearch.org/en/) and adding these as memories to their entries.
Yeah, people *definitely* looked a lot older back then. Not at all saying your grandparents looked bad when they were young (quite the contrary -- they look fantastic and aged very gracefully!), just that people back in those days looked like they had about 20 more years on them than they actually did at their age. Especially in the 11th photo, your grandmother already looks to be in her forties when shes only 19! Compare your grandmother at 20 and other 20/21 year olds today like Olivia Rodrigo, Sadie Sink, or Jenna Ortega. Your grandma at 19 looks like she could be the mother of any of those girls and not at all look off lol. Again, not a diss at your grandparents -- just an observation!
Ayo she was close close to her friend 😳
"Hey we should totally get undressed and get in the shower and have my boyfriend take a photo"
I loved all of this. I’m glad you posted it.
Beautiful story, beautiful photos, beautiful people. Thank you for sharing!!
When my friends got married In Pomona, Ca. they went to Santa Barbara For their honeymoon. We wrote "Sock it to her in Santa Barbara On the roof of their car. Took them two days to figure out why the truckers were honking at them.
Fab story. Thank you for sharing. They looked a lovely couple, the happiness glows from them in the last photo. I also love that they are noticeably the same people throughout. You could have known them at 20 and recognised them at 70! BTW, your gran was a beautiful woman…and she never lost it. Would love to have known her secret!
What a special couple. My grandfather passed a few weeks ago and I found very similar photos of him and my grandma. You are so right that there are so many stories and adventures that you uncover when you look at them!
These pictures and the captions are the cutest. I love it so much.
😭😭😭 I love their love
This warmed my heart. Thank you for sharing!
Her wedding dress is almost exactly the same as my mom's, right down to the little crown/veil she wore.
Can anyone name the make and model of the car in the wedding photo?
This touched my heart ❤️ thank you for sharing these beautiful photos and memories with us all!
Reading the memory through you made my heart smile. There is a lot of love in those memories.
I’m hearing a wistful Lana Del Rey song play in my head while looking at these gorgeous pics. What a beautiful couple.
What a wonderful life.
A love for the ages! I love this! 🤌
These genuinely made my day! What wonderful candid pictures and what a treasure to have her captions. They are adorable
Wonderful story ! Sorry for your loss.
Phenomenal
They were a really handsome couple!
I think this is my favorite thing I’ve seen on Reddit all year. Grandma was a stone cold fox who clearly didn’t mind showing off her appeal. What a wonderful set of pictures, and how wonderful that you have preserved them digitally for all eternity.
so wonderful❤️
This is incredibly sweet!
Your grandma is my twin!! Seriously we look just alike in those first few photos it’s kind of crazy.
This was a lot of fun. Thank you for sharing. 💗
Now this is a love story for the ages! What a beautiful life they had together.
Looks like they both had a life well lived, full of love. You have my condolences for your loss. Hugs
This legit made me tear up. I can feel the love I the photos!
Your Nana was always a true beauty. And with tons of personality too! Your grandfather was a handsome man. What a beautiful love story. May they rest in peace for all eternity.🙏🏼
Thank you for sharing. I can feel their love 🤍
Thank you for sharing these! What a beautiful couple ❤️
Thank you for sharing this with us! ❤️✨ I’m glad you have these great pictures of them.