Monday's Grace

My great grand-parents, Grace ("Mamaw") and Gudgell ("Papaw") passed away in 2002. Later that year, my uncle started gathering excerpts from their journals to publish for the family. I never thought I'd be impacted so much by such a thing as someone else's journal, but I cherish this collection of notes and look to it often for inspiration. Their entries are normally very simple, and Mamaw calls Papaw "Dad" most the time...

"We didn't get up until 9am. I had the wild eye and couldn't get to sleep until after 2am"

"I think I have the flu. I greased myself with goosle gozzle salve, took a contact and went to bed."

"What would us girls do without Dad? Fly apart I guess."

And then scattered through their humbling simplicity, I find absolute treasures like this:

"To my husband: I love you not only for what you are, but for what I am when I am with you. I love you not only for what you have made of yourself, but for what you are making of me. I love you for the part of me that you bring out. I love you for putting your hand onto my heaped up heart and passing over all the foolish weak things that you can't help but dimly see there. And for the drawing out into the light all the beautiful belongings that no one else had looked quite far enough to find. I love you because you are helping me to make of my life, not a tavern, but a temple. Out of the works of my every day, not a reproach but a song."

PS - tonight's the last night to enter my Treading Water custom bath + body giveaway. I'm closing comments at midnight Mountain Time and will announce the winner tomorrow!