A Valentine Surprise!

Since February is the “love” month, I’m sharing a special story about a couple of friends.

Gerald Meeks moved to Edmond just as Covid hit. Being a widower, he was alone in the house he had built to host old and new friends. But being a “people person,” he kept in touch by e-mail, phone, text, etc.

One of those friends was a widow he met years ago while working in Wichita. And though Bonnie had since moved to Tennessee to be near her son, they still kept in touch.

Then one day, post Covid, Gerald had business in Nashville and stopped by to see Bonnie in Memphis. Old friends! Both retired! And both widowed for 18 years. They had lunch. They visited then visited some more. Gerald returned to Edmond but made another trip to Tennessee, again stopping to see Bonnie. On that visit, after their goodbye hug, Gerald dropped a quick kiss on Bonnie’s lips. “Wow! Where did that come from?” thought Bonnie.

Well, you might guess the rest of the story but it also has a surprise. Bonnie had an 8-year-old granddaughter who was anxious to have a grandpa like her friends so the first time she met Gerald she got straight to the point.
“Are you going to be my grandpa?”

Talk about surprise! You see, not only was Gerald widowed, but he had also lost his only child, a son, several years earlier. He never even thought about becoming a grandparent—until now. His heart was already wanting to propose to Bonnie so this was a little prompt and on Valentine’s Day, 2023, Gerald got down on one knee at a restaurant and proposed. They were married the following July.

End of story? No way! In November, Elli, that sweet granddaughter who now had a grandpa, called to say her 4th grade class was part of a Veteran’s Day program. Could Gerald come since he was a veteran? It would be a ten-hour drive! But to someone now called Pop-Pop that was no big deal. So Bon-Bon and Pop-Pop made the trip. After all, that’s what grandparents do. And Gerald was now an official grandpa!