Heart Hope by Olga

Silver Dollar Coin On September 8, 2001, which was ten years ago today, Margaret Elizabeth Griffin and William Roche Murphy were married. It was a joyous day, with one exception. Margaret’s beloved grandfather, Papa T was not there and it brought tears to Margaret’s eyes that he could not be present.  For good luck a bride is supposed to wear something old, something new, something borrowed and something blue. Before Papa T’s death, he was always known to carry a silver dollar coin in his pocket. The smooth silver piece was placed in his pocket every morning and emptied it out on his dresser every evening. No one knew exactly when this started, but the coin became a symbol of my dad, so for Margaret’s borrowed item on her wedding day she asked if she could use “the coin” to represent his presence. Knowing the significance of the coin, Margaret’s friends taped it to the bottom of her shoe, so it wouldn’t get lost and when she changed clothes to leave the wedding they careful...

Success in marriage does not come merely through finding the right mate, but through being the right mate.  ~Barnett R. Brickner On this Valentine’s Week, we are all thinking about love and hearts of pink and red. So in reflecting about love and marriage in my family, I feel very fortunate to have had good examples of lasting marriages. One set of grandparents were married for over 60 years, the other was married until death parted them and my parents had been married for over 50 years when Daddy died.  Marriage was not always easy for these couples, but they were determined to make it work. Each of them had made the promise “to have and to hold from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish; from this day forward until death do us part” and they were determine to fulfill those vows.  My grandfather sent the following message to my parents years ago. It was later given to me and my husband and...