You see, Mr. JB was raised by a single mother. Mr. JB and BIL JB weren't close to their father's side of the family. And Mr. JB's grandparents helped MIL JB raise these two little monkeys. Mr. JB has a lot of fond memories with his grandparents -- from being protected from his mom when he burned down his grandparents' closet or going over to their place to eat and so much more.
I had the pleasure of meeting Mr. JB's grand mother only. Even though we didn't carry on conversations with each other, I still liked her. She was very sweet. I can only imagine how she was with Mr. JB. Mr. JB's grandpa died a few years before Mr. JB and I got together.
Mr. JB doesn't remember his grandparents from his father's side as much. And I don't blame him. He barely saw them.
I have a full set of parents who aren't divorced but we spent a lot of time with my grandparents from my mom's side. My aunts and uncles from my mother's side helped my parents raise us when they were busy with their work as teachers. They fed us, bathed us, cooked for us, washed our clothes, etc. Everything we needed, we got from my mom's side of the family. I have lots of very fond memories of my grandparents from my mother's side. We only went over to my dad's grandparents house to sleep during the night. And my grand mother from my dad's side came to US when I was about 8 or 9, I believe. And my grand father from my dad's side passed away when my grandmother was pregnant with my youngest aunt, which was 20+ years before I arrived into this world. And I'm not very close to my dad's side of the family. I can tell you this though -- my grandmother from my dad's side who is still alive is close to the grandkids from the daughters' side.
Now that we're getting married, I miss my grandparents from my mom's side a lot. My grandpa died first in October of 1989 and my grandma died in January of 1991. I think about them often and I wonder what they would think about Mr. JB. Or how I can include them in our wedding if they were still alive. I can only imagine.
So, for our wedding, I wanted them to be a part of our wedding. Initially, we thought about having their pictures as part of the ceremony. But I didn't want to have a morbid feeling. So, I searched to find more ways to include them in a subtle way. My solution? A locket! A locket for Mr. JB and a locket for me.
Pictures On Gold is a company that specialize in custom photo engraving. So, I bought a 1/2" round locket for Mr. JB and had his grandparents (mother's side) engraved and I bought a 3/4" heart locket for me with my mom's side engraved on the left side and my dad's side engraved on the right side.
The hard part of doing this was finding pictures. Mr. JB's grandparents didn't really take a lot of pictures, I guess. So, we had to look through old albums and found one. I was hoping for a picture of them on their wedding day but I guess my MIL lost it or something rather.
I had a picture of my grandparents from my mom's side on their wedding day. I was so happy!! You see, I'm a hoarder of memories. I like to have everything old in my possession. =) When I went to Burma a few years back, I saw the wedding picture and I HAD to have them. My cousin had it redone at the photo shop and it came out really good.
And of course, I had to also include my grandparents from my dad's side too. I know we're not close but they're still my grandparents. If it weren't for them, then my dad won't be here. =) So, I had to have them also. And also, if I didn't have them as part of my locket, I'm afraid I will hurt my dad's feeling. And I definitely don't want a bitter and mad daddy walking me down the aisle. ha ha.
The only thing problem with including my dad's side is not having a picture of all of my grandparents. I've only seen one picture of my grandfather. So, I had to use that picture. And I have two grandmothers. One died in Burma in 1991 and one (the one that gave birth to my dad) is still alive. It was easy to find picture of my dad's birth mother but not of my other grandmother. So, I had to use what I had. I scanned three individual pictures of my dad's parents into one file and hoped that the company will alter it to the way I want it.
I placed the order with Pictures on Gold and waited patiently for the lockets to arrive. And the package came yesterday. I was afraid to open the envelope. But I took a deep breath and opened them.
All I gotta say is....WOW!!! These came out REALLY REALLY GOOD!!! Seriously!! Mr. JB's locket came out really good too!! WOW. I'm speechless.
I put Mr. JB's locket on his bout so that his g'parents are close to his heart on our wedding day. I put mine on my bouquet so that I can carry them close to me...
Even though the cost of doing these lockets was a bit steep, I think I would still do this again if given the choice. To know that they are part of our special day is priceless....
No comments:
Post a Comment