By Gone Era

This is an important date in the history books and I didn't want it to slip by w/o a mention.

Hope you enjoy this little short story.

By Gone Era

Every June 6^th, Gramma would drag out the old, timeworn album and peruse the pictures.  They were yellowed with age and had that sepia tone look to them.  When we were younger, she would make the first ice cream of the summer season, and we would sit there on the porch, eating ice cream and listening to her stories as we looked at the faded pictures. Gramma didn’t much care about the ice cream, but when she looked at the pictures and told the stories, she had a smile on her face even if there were tears in her eyes.

I remember a particular page Gramma always skipped right over.  When I was younger, it didn’t seem important, but as I got older, I wanted to know why that page was always kept hidden.  One day, when I was about fifteen, I found the album and when Gramma wasn’t around, perused the pictures by myself.

Most of the pictures on that page were of Gramma, her brother, Uncle Steve and Aunt Rose, and a couple of others I didn’t recognize. They seemed to be having a picnic at a lake.  They were all laughing and looked happy. Gramma always seemed to be close to this one particular fella and it sure wasn’t grandpa. I was determined to know the mystery behind this page.  I was in the process of trying to remove the picture from its casing when Gramma caught me in the act.

“What are you doing Beth?”

“I was looking at these pictures.  You know the ones you always show us and I didn’t recognize these people.”  She came to stand near me and looked at the photo in question.

“Well you know that’s your Uncle Steve and Aunt Rose.”

“Yes, I know them but who is that?” and I pointed to the one fellow in question.

Gramma got a faraway look in her eye.  “That’s Gray Godson.”

“I don’t know him, do I?”

“No, you don’t. Would you like to hear the story of a young girl’s romantic fantasies?”

“Oh, yes.” I was at that age when everything seemed so dreamy and romantic and not having had any experience of my own I yearned to hear Gramma's story. When I begged my mother to tell me romantic stories of her and my dad, she said I read too many books and expected moonlight and roses and love wasn't always like that.

“Gray Godson was a friend of your Uncle Steve’s.  I had a crush on him from the time I was in sixth grade, but he never paid the slightest attention to me. He had joined the service and was about to be shipped out overseas soon so Steve invited him and a bunch of our other friends to a last picnic at the lake.  By this time, I had started dating your grandpa, but he couldn’t make it to the party – he had to work that day.  I decided this might be my last chance for Gray Godson to see me as a woman and not just Steve’s little sister.

I’m ashamed to say, I flirted with him most of the day and he kept right on ignoring me.  It made me mad, and I was determined  to show him just how wrong he was.  I went right up to him and put my arms around him and kissed him. I mean really kissed him.   He pushed me away, and I pushed back and knocked him down.  By this time, everyone was watching us, and when Gray landed on his backside, they all laughed.  When he got up and dusted himself off,his face was all red and I stepped back.  He grabbed hold of me and hauled me over to an overturned log where he proceeded to put me across his knee and spank me hard.  He was wailing away at my behind when your Grandpa showed up unexpectedly. He wanted to know what was going on, and Uncle Steve explained.

Anyway, the upstart of the whole thing was Gray Godson sure did notice me and when he let me go, he told Grandpa he wished him well taking care of me.

“You let a man spank you?”

“Oh, honey, times were different then.  It wasn’t so unusual.  It wasn’t even my only spanking that day.  When your Grandpa got me home, he spanked me too and told me I could expect more of the same if I ever tried a stunt like that again. Shortly after that, he asked me to marry him.”  Gramma was laughing.

“Did Grandpa really spank you again after that day?”

“Honey, I don’t think that is any of your business. But if you really want to know, ask Grandpa?”

“Maybe I will?” Gramma smirked.  “Gramma whatever happened to Gray Godson?  Did you ever see him again?”

‘No honey. I never did.  As I said in the beginning, this was a sort of going away party for him.  He was killed on Omaha Beach on June 6, 1944.  You learned about D-Day in school, didn’t you?”

“Yes, it’s so sad to think about all those men being so brave and dying right there on a beach so far from home.”

“Yes, most of them weren’t much older than you are now and had their whole lives ahead of them.  I hope we always remember that freedom comes at a price, and someone has to pay that price.”

Gramma got teary eyed.  “So now you know.  Any more questions?”

Typical of a devil-may-care fifteen-year-old.  “Yes, was it romantic getting spanked by Grandpa?”  She smiled.

I never did work up the courage to ask Grandpa if he ever spanked Gramma again.  Now that I'm a Gramma I can't imagine any of my grandkids ever asking that question and better yet I can't even begin to imagine the roll of their eyes if I answered.

See you later for more Aimless Ramblings.