Legends

This is one of my favorite pictures.

It just so happens to be of two of my favorite people. And those two people just happen to have some legendary tales that I count as some of my most cherished.

Meet Maxine and Pete (aka Grammie and Poppy to some of their biggest fans).

Though they are only with us in spirit now, this picture is one of many constant reminders of their love, their legacy, and their legendary stories.

Every time I see this picture – I smile.

I pause.

I reflect – thinking of all the lessons they have taught me and continue to teach me.

I’ve been reflecting on them a lot recently, as the world seems to echo chaos and throw curveballs left and right.

…Pandemics. Politics. 24/7 news cycles of which so much seems to be focused on all of the things going wrong in the world, adding more things for our minds to process and stew over. Add on whatever else happens to be going on personally and locally, and it seems to add up to a whole lot, for everyone, and we keep stepping and going and moving forward despite the uncertainty and chaos…

So when I was watching the news this morning and the sunlight streaming in from the window reflected off the picture frame next to the TV with – you guessed it – one of my favorite photos of two of my favorite people, I turned off the TV and took a moment to think about what they would teach me in this moment.

Sure, the two smiling faces in the picture taken on their wedding day in 1945 may not have experienced the chaos and uncertainty of a pandemic and 2020 in general, but they sure journeyed through a whole lot of uncertainty and chaos – world war, deployment, the Great Depression, the Dust Bowl, and the list goes on and on.

And, most importantly, they ended up right where they were meant to be, blessing others along the way.

I started thinking of all the uncertainty they faced – of their legendary stories that Grammie would share with me (usually when I was stewing over what was in my mind a “life-changing” event or “big deal,” which in the big scheme of things always paled in comparison to what they had been through). She would share personal anecdotes of how we always find a way through things and that, if there’s one thing she’s learned over the years, it’s that “there’s no need to borrow trouble.”

When I was nervous about moving cross-country on my own – She recounted how she felt when she left home and moved all alone to help build airplanes for the war effort during World War II. She knew what she had to do – and she did it. No plan. Limited options to communicate with family back home. She just figured out what she had to do – and then she did it.

…And then she went home and went dancing (okay, I’m not actually sure she went dancing immediately after, but it seems like something she would have done and I’m thinking it probably happened).

When I was unsure about how everything would fall into place, wanting to get back to live near family – I would recall her telling me the tale of how our ancestors must have felt when they left Ireland on a boat to escape a famine, only to find that they couldn’t sail straight to the USA, but rather had to detour through Canada, eventually ending up where they hoped to be – the good ol’ midwest of the US of A.

And, when I was watching the news this morning, bombarded by all the chaos and uncertainty in the world – I thought of their legendary stories, and I thought of Poppy’s letters back home from Europe during World War II. He enlisted, he went overseas, he served, he experienced D-Day at Normandy, and he received a Purple Heart. And what did he do throughout all of the chaos and uncertainty he faced? He read his Bible, he wrote to his sister back home, he prayed in any church he could find, and he planned.

… He planned for what he would do when he got back home.

… He eagerly awaited seeing his family.

… He hoped he would see that “lovely girl” Maxine who sent him candy and cookies.

… He thought of the dances he would attend with a special someone.

… He dreamed of the life he would build.

And he did it all.

He kept going and going, navigating the wild uncertainty of the war, keeping his eyes on what was important. He kept going until it led him where he hoped it would lead – home.

… To reunite with family.

… To have a lifetime of dances with that “lovely girl” Maxine.

… To create a family and a life that he loved.

So, this morning, these two smiling faces reminded me once again of some of the most important lessons, and I hope they remind you of them too.

I hope that they remind you that we can navigate our way through chaos and uncertainty, growing through the detours along the way, and – so long as we don’t “borrow trouble” – we can always find joy along the way as we create the life of which we dream.