HOPEFUL ROMANTIC

My Grandmother, Nana Laura, was what some folks might call a hopeless romantic. But, she described herself as a hopeful romantic.
Laura, and her sister Blanche, met and married two brothers, Theodore and Alfred, the same night they all first met. And they lived happily ever after.
Sadly, my Grandfather died before I was born and Nana Laura came to live with us. Back then my parents were still enjoying their youthful folly so Nana Laura became my mentor and babysitter.
When World War 2 broke out she immediately began knitting sweaters, scarves, and mittens for the soldiers overseas. Every week she would go down to the Red Cross office to deliver her latest creations. She liked to say that she kept the boys warm and helped their morale with little notes.
No one knew exactly what that meant until the war was over and dozens of returning GIs showed up on our doorstep looking for lovely Laura.
It seems that Nana Laura had been boosting their morale with warm and loving notes plus a photo of my young Mother in a bathing suit.

It must have been quite a shock to those eager GIs when Laura turned out to be a Grandmother.

Ah, love and the naughty ways of a hopeful romantic.