Happy Wednesday, folks.

In two weeks from today, we will bury my grandparents.

That probably sounds more like a threat than a statement, so let me explain.

My grandmother, GG, had never been sick a day in her life, but four months after being diagnosed with stomach cancer, she was gone. She left behind my grandfather, The Colonel, after 60 years of marriage.

None of us were prepared.

We arranged a private ceremony at the church where my parents were married.

And I spoke about my love for her.

I talked about how she gave the best back scratches, and was not good at sounding things out. About how she told everyone she met how pretty I was, and could never catch on to my brother’s pranks. How she was the only person I knew who drove with two feet, and how an outfit was not complete without a dickie.

That was in December of 2009.

It is still hard to believe that we have had the last of those things together for now.

This past November, The Colonel died. I wrote about my last time with him four days later.

I was fortunate to have had the experience of their love. Their union.

It was a testament to marriage.

My Juicy Glad-I-Caught-That: Love can be hard. Love requires you to…let go when you want to hold on, know that the other person is you, take risks when you’re scared, to always see the lesson and never look back once you’ve decided. ~Jackson Kiddard

And once they chose each other sixty-some odd years earlier, they never looked back.

My grandfather was the [only] Artist-in-Residence of the Marine Corps. He will be buried in Arlington National Cemetery on February 19th. With GG. His love – Bobbie Andersen.

This goodbye will be less private given the circumstances, but it will remain an intimate moment in my life. And I will feel relief when they are finally, and physically, laid-to-rest beside one another on that day.

For three days, we are being graciously hosted by the Commandant of the Marine Corps. We will visit his home of which the third floor includes three suites. One of those rooms is named after Thomas Jefferson, the second is named after Prince Phillip, and the third, after my grandfather, Colonel Charles Waterhouse.

Arrivederci, and thank you for the memories, Grandma and Grandpa.

See you on the flip-side.

In love,

Noelle
xoxox

Barbara Andersen Waterhouse
Charles Howard Waterhouse