Now that little girl on the photo could be me. Actually she looks a lot like me when I was that age (what is she, 4-5 years old?). It is not a surprise that she looks like me as this is my grandmother, holding something that looks like a sheep (or is it a rabbit) on wheels.
And the photo of the little guy chilling on his dog is indeed my grandfather. (I wonder where that hat came from!)
I really love old and dated photos like these, they are very old as are my grandparents, but I am lucky that both of them are still around and they are still in reasonable shape, considering their age.
My grandfather is 95. If I visit them I often find him sitting behind his computer playing flight simulator. (I am not making this up!) And he still drives a car.
And my gran, who is 90 now (if I am not mistaken) will be sitting on the sofa, reading the Libelle, a women’s magazine she has subscribed to since she was (believe it or not) 20 or so.
They still live on their own, without any daily help, they cook themselves and clean the house. They even have a little garden they take care of. It is quite remarkable. They can’t walk very far anymore and grandad is a bit deaf but in their heads they are still clear and they know what is going on in the world.
As a kid I often visited my gran and played rummy or solitaire with her. Or I went swimming with her in the local outdoor swimming pool (which now has been replaced by a boring subtropical indoors one). They still live in the same town where I was born (as do the rest of my family), nothing has changed really.
Tomorrow I will fly to the Netherlands because on Saturday gran and grandad are celebrating their 70 years wedding anniversary. 70 years, how amazing is that!
And even though I have just been in the Netherlands (end of August), this was reason enough for me to go there again. Especially because I know that my gran would really like me to be there.
So there you go, long marriages do still exist!
Are there other people still having their grandparents around? And have they been married for this long?
[On another note – I am recovered from my food poisoning. I had a lovely 1.5 day in Norfolk, and a not so lovely day after that being as sick as a dog. But I feel better and can tolerate food again and am improving by the day. I have some photos from that trip, will post them when I am back in London after the weekend.]
Sorry you have been ill.
Many congratulations to your grandparents, 70 years!! I looked up what anniversary it was and it says Platinum but I’m guessing that’s a modern idea as years ago getting to your diamond (60) anniverary was pretty rare.
I only ever had one grandad and no grannies so always felt hard done by!
We will celebrate 35 years next year so have to contemplate twice that length to match your grandparenst!!!!
Lovely story, I think your gran is younger then 5, I think she is about 2 years on that picture. and yes, she is 90 now . So good that you will be here on this special day ;-)
congratulations on your grandparents! my mom and dad were married 60 years last year. next month that will be 61 ;-) my mom will be 86 in a few weeks time, my dad is 83.
so my kids and their kids still have their grandparents and great grandparents.
Congratulations! That is a wonderful story indeed. :-)
You are very, very lucky that your grandparents are still around and that they have been happy and healthy together for so long!
Unfortunately, I have never known any of my grandparents. My father’s father died in the early 1960s, my mother’s father and my father’s mother both died in the early 1970s. My mother’s mother died in the late 1940s – my mother was still a baby at the time.
I have only known my mother’s stepmother and she was a wonderful grandmother. She taught me how to knit when I was only 6 or 7 years old. She died in 2006 – at the age of 88 – and I got her knitting needles, which I still use. I just finished a scarf. :-)
I hope they (and you) have a wonderful day. Wish them all the best.
My grandparents don’t live anymore. My last grandfather died in 1995.
We’ve just celebrated our 7th anniversary. How ’bout that, hey! Just 63 years to go.
Just had to comment on this post! it is absolutely amazing that your Grandparents have achieved 70 years of marriage! it is so rare and indeed unique (at our age! ;) ) to have two Grandparents still around…..so you …..enjoy every minute this weekend with them and the rest of your family!! Many congratulations to them both!!
by the way……surely your grandmother must be holding a happy bunny!! ;)
Congratulations !! I hope you all have a very happy day tomorrow.
My grandparents have all died. When I was born I had 7. With 2 great-grandparents. My mother’s mother died when mom was 7, afterwards my grandfather married his widowed niece because they had 5 little children amongst themselves. He divorced her again after 10 years. Her new partner became a grandfather for us but left. And then my other grandfather died. So did my step-grandmother only 3 years ago.
My father’s parents both outlived him. My grandfather died 10 days later at 84 and my grandmother, who I simply adored, died at 80 years-old almost 10 years ago.
Thankfully I have a spare set; my mothers aunt and uncle, who took her in when her mother got ill and took care of her until my grandfater remarried, are 80 and 88 and still ging strong after (only ;o) ) 55 years of marriage.
I’m crazy about them and so are my kids.
Thanks for all the nice comments. And also really nice to read about all your grandparents!
I love pictures like this – I have some of my maternal grandmother and her son – I never knew them and it would be hard to find out more about them nowadays but they are so special to me.
70 years ? Does anyone manage that now ??
Hope you get better soon -flat Coke and hula hoops always works for me…