Rachel and I spent a good amount of time visiting her Grandma (and Grandpa) in Kankakee from Thursday July 28th to Monday August 1st, 2016. We would work, then she would take the train to New Lenox, where I would pick her up and we would drive down to Kankakee. After visiting we would head back to the city and do it again the next day. A lot of travel and a lot of fast food, but something that despite being so emotional, was enjoyable and we would not have done any other way. There is something special about spending time with family that you love, and this was one of those experiences.
On Wednesday August 3rd, after work I headed to New Lenox again to pick Rachel up from the train. We had some Jimmy Johns for dinner and drove down to Kankakee to see Grandma. She switched to a larger room to accommodate all of her guests, as Rachel's Uncles from California had arrived a day earlier.
What happened on this day was something spectacular and magnificent. Rachel's Aunt had found some old diaries of Grandma's in a box while looking for something in their basement. Everyone knew Grandma had often written a daily diary over the last 30 years or so, as they are proudly displayed on a shelf in their living room. These little journals would tell the events and stories of each day of the year, and were often referenced to settle disagreements between Grandma and Grandpa regarding exact details of past events. Everyone knew about these, but the diaries that were just discovered, no one, not even Grandpa knew about. The newly discovered diaries, were from the 1940s. That is 70 years ago, wow!
Simply incredible! Not only are these diaries still in mint condition, but Grandma has some of the most beautiful hand writing I have ever seen. Each diary is a small, leather-bound pocketbook, with a page for every day of the week, except Saturday and Sunday which share a page. Seems like it should be the opposite as I would imagine more happening on Saturday and Sunday than the other days, but it was the 1940s so who knows. It follows a chronological order starting with day one on January 1st, continuing until December 31st. We had a few of her diaries on hand, I believe it was the 1945, 46 and 47 editions, but the one that caught our attention on this night was 1946.
As we all gathered around Grandma, Rachel read some of her diary entries aloud from 1946, providing everyone listening with plenty of "oos and ahhs," laughter, and tears. One particular entry that Grandpa especially wanted to hear and asked us to read was Saturday, November 16th, 1946. The day that Grandpa and Grandma met. I want you to read the entry below, soak it up, and realize, this is the start of a new beginning for two people who will shortly fall in love, be married (for 69 years), create an amazing family (which I am now lucky enough to be a part of), and provide a lifetime of memories that will be remembered forever.
Just amazing. The simple, yet elegant details allow you to picture these events happening as if it was 1946 again. The Rainbow Ballroom was a dance hall in Denver that Grandma frequented, often staying out late to dance. We can be thankful that both her and Grandpa decided to attend the dance hall on this evening.
Rob and Katie recently went on a trip to Denver and went to the old building where the Rainbow Room was. It is now an office building, but they had pictures up inside the new building of the old building. Very cool!
Inside the Rainbow Ballroom back in the day. This place could hold around 3K people. I am sure Grandma and Grandpa rocked the dance floor.
Grandma has left us a marvelous gift. It isn't just that we were reading a dairy from 1946, it is far more than that. It is the slang and way things were described, it is a sense of the culture, and it is the way Grandma wrote about her life. These diaries are more than a diary or a journal. They are a story. A story that one day I believe can be turned into a book or even a movie. It is people, events, and stories like this that make the world a lovely place.
The fact that Grandma began writing a journal so long ago, and did so for so many years, made me realize how much I enjoy blogging, which is essentially my own diary. If you have never read any of my blogs, they remind me exactly of Grandma's journal entries, except with a little more detail and a lot more pictures. Although, I have to say that I am thankful my blog is electronic, as you do not want to see my handwriting.
With the discovery of these diaries and seeing how much Grandma has done, I decided to do a little research and see how often I have blogged over the past 4 years. I obtained the domain Malutavision.com and started this website with SquareSpace as my platform in October of 2012. I believe I had blogged a little prior to that, but only about videos I found online, never about my life. My first blog entry in 2012 was on October 31st, Happy Halloween.
In 2012 I blogged 14 times, followed up by 13 times in 2013. Not too shabby but not too great. In 2014 I decided I was going to try to blog every week of the year. I blogged 49 times that year. 2015 took a little dip as I only blogged 23 times. I was actually doing great in 2015, writing nearly every week until my last entry on June 9th. I am not sure why I stopped for the rest of the year, but I did. I started the blog back up at the beginning of this year in 2016, and blogged a good amount, 16 times through a very busy spring, having my last entry on June 7th, right before the wedding happened. I am happy to say I am back again, as you may have noticed all of my blogs since the beginning of August, and I look to be more active than ever.
I believe that everything in life happens for a reason. Whether good or bad, we need to take what life gives us and make the most out of it. I owe a huge thank you to Rachel's Grandma for the inspiration I received from her daily diary. I honestly do not know if I would have regained the desire to blog if it had not been for her diary. Whether it is through my blog, coaching, teaching, or my videos, I hope that one day I can be as inspirational to someone as you have been to me.
Grandma will always be remembered as she passed on to a better place August 10, 2016 at the age of 93.
We miss you and love you forever.
Josh