‘A picture is worth a Thousand words’
I found an old photo of my grandparents.
They are both saying something through this classic pose, many years into their marriage. That resulted in nine kids, one which passed away as a baby of a few months.
I have been assessing this photo for a while. Maybe because the photo is sharing a message on what it means to be married. Or maybe they are sharing what it means to stay together through thick and thin.
When I look at this photo, I see my strong Egyptian heritage coming through my grandfather’s side. I also see a European gene most probably Greek or Turkish coming through my grandmother’s features.
I sit and look at the photo and remember my grandfather’s stories during my school holiday visits. I remember him sitting on his big chair in the hallway of his home.
He was not wearing a Tarboosh back then but a small white knitted prayer hat and a clean, ironed beige Gallabiyah which my grandmother had ready for him for when he came back from work.
He would always call her from behind the bathroom door ‘Fatma' he’d say 'where is my Gallabiyah?’ she’d scurry down the corridor with her swollen leg and say ‘it’s on the bed in your room’.
He would cross the two steps between the bathroom and his room with his big white towel wrapped around his waist. The grandchildren would be in grandma’s bigger room next door, jumping and playing on the two big beds where we were always welcome for sleepovers.
My memories of my visits to my grandparents. The way they treated each other. The way they respected each other. The way they supported each other through thick and thin, and the way they just kept going no matter what life threw at them, is one of the reasons I keep going on with my own marriage.
My grandparents parted at death. They were amazing role models on patience, resilience, perseverance and not giving up.
No marriage is perfect.
No person is perfect. We are all perfectly flawed. Our flaws make us who we are.
❤️Marwa
LifeStyle Design Consultant™️
~ piece shared from my draft Chapter.
My Grandparents Legacy