Thematic Interp

This was part of my Thematic piece from this last year. This story is based off my great grandparents. Theirs is one of the greatest love stories.


“I was twelve, sitting in the window seat of the train, looking across the beautiful Canadian plains. Six years ago my papa moved to Canada to build a house for my family. Just days before my family left England for Canada WWI broke out and passage was no longer allowed for civilian. My poor mum was separated from her husband for six years. She was obligated to raise and protect three children from the horrors of war. But today is a happy day. After weeks of traveling we will finally be reunited with my papa. My excitement grew as we approached the station. I wondered if he would even recognize his Mazie. I could now see two men standing side by side on the platform. One was definitely my papa, his dark eyes I could never forget. But the other one was a young man, very handsome. As the train came closer he pulled off his cap. His eyes caught mine; the edges of his mouth formed a smile. I quickly looked away. I could feel my cheeks turning red. But no matter what I did I couldn’t remove the smile from my face. The reunion with my papa was sweet. The young man introduced himself as Joe. He came to help papa with our luggage. I had never been in love before, but this was truly love at first sight. Joe was the milk man at his parent’s dairy farm; he brought our milk every day. It was always the highlight of my day. Over the next three years we became best friends as we talked, laughed, and danced. Every time I saw him I fell more in love. One night on New Year’s Eve, destiny gave us a little time alone together. He told me that he loved me and asked if I would be his “sweetheart.” I promised him right there and then that as long as I lived I would be Joe’s girl. Little did I know that was the last time I would see him for the next five years, we were separated by my family’s move to America. But when Joe and I were reunited it was like nothing changed. I was still Joe’s girl.”
They had a good life together filled with laughter, love, and dreams, but it was inundated with many difficulties and hardships. They went through it all together because their love was founded on commitment. This story had special meaning to me. You see, Joe and Mazie were my great-grandparents. They were married seventy-three years. They loved each other more at the end of their lives than at the beginning. In two-thousand and eight my great-grandmother died at one-hundred and one. On her death bed all she could say was: “I am going home, to see my Joe.”