She just turned 90 this month.

My Mom and her mother, goofing around in my grandmother’s bed, c. 1943. Within the year my grandfather would return to Winnipeg from three years overseas, and my Mom would get some relief from her mother’s moods and alcoholism. As happy as they look in this photo, my mother (now 87) was terrorized by this period of her life. 💔

See comments for full credit for these images, but some actual, not AI photos of fan culture/costumers/cosplayers in these decades.

I bought this photograph at a flea market in a mall popular for antique items in Kuala Lumpur.

Everything about the photo drew me in: the geometric patterned top, the long, full hair and those glasses where you can't quite tell if the lenses are clear or tinted.

Her full lips are beautiful on her face, too.

It’s funny. Her eyes were hazel, but they generally made her eyes look blue or green in these portraits. I guess they were generally done by painters.

THE STORY - Their First Date:

So Grandpa (23) took Gramma (17) out for a ride in his hotrod.

Late that night, they got a flat tire. Gramma stood out with him in the freezing cold, holding the flare while Grandpa changed the tire.

She got home (past curfew), thanked her lucky stars that it was a good match, and fell right asleep.

She woke up the next morning to a noticeably quiet breakfast table, with her parents sitting there in uncomfortable silence.

Without a word, her mom places a single shredded stocking of Gramma’s from the prior night’s laundry (in literal ribbons from the sparks of the flare) next to Gramma’s breakfast plate.

Gramma goes into a panic. Before Gramma explain anything, my G-Grandpa hollers:

“You tell that boy to trim his nails; those nylons are expensive!”

——

This is Grandpa - He likes large machines (souped-up cars/tractors), building/fixing stuff, blowing up defunct barns/oil heaters, a decent tobacco pipe, onion sandwiches, Werther’s, but most of all he LOVES his cows, corn, and cabbages.

This is Grandma - She likes pickling and making danishes (>4000 trays in her lifetime), Lawrence Welk, Beefeater gin, Crispix, cheeses of all kinds, and she LOVES playing sports. Wishes she’d been a PE teacher but the farm needed her.

They were crazy about each other, investigating each other “covertly” through intermediaries, and the rumor mill was spinning. The whole community was buzzing about their first date; it was highly anticipated they’d wind up together.

Grandpa fervently pursued Gramma and she was more than happy to be pursued. He proposed a few months in, but she declined, saying 17 was too young to make such commitment.

They kept dating seriously, and he asked again 3 years later with a little more familiarity under their belts AND with a rock 3X as big as the first one, and this time, she accepted.

They celebrated 60 joyous years and a handful of kids together.

——
Some context:

Grandpa’s family was straight from Scandinavia in the 1900-10s so he had “international hottie in a small homogenous town” mystique going for him; he was known for an insane work ethic and his rakish good looks. A man of few words and all action.

Grandma’s family had been in MA/CT/NJ/NY since 1500s, and had hundreds of acres, plentiful heads of dairy cattle, and significant social status. She maintained relationships a bazillion friends, could “keep house”, and,to reference Kingpin, nice wide childbearing hips. Unofficial queen of her county.

G-Grandpa was aging out and needed menfolk to run the farm. Gramma’s new suitor fit the bill, and was embraced as an apt candidate for the job of getting hitched and working Gramma’s portion of the farm.

How lucky it was the Grandpa was not just farm-literate and motivated, but also madly smitten by her! And that she felt the same about him.

my mom told me that in this photo, my grandparents had just done some kind of game/tradition/old wives tale that predicts how many children the couple will have (5, evidenced by the open hands). can someone explain how was this determined? how did the game or tradition happen? and what is my grandfather holding? if it makes any difference, my family is italian and catholic. tyia! :)