Dear Monica

Spring is here and robins sing
The flowers are starting to bloom
Blue skies look down and smile with you
You're going to be married soon!

And down through the years we've heard it said
They lived happily ever after
Don't count it always to be this way
It won't be all music and laughter.

Oh the first few weeks will be blissful
He will be perfect within your eyes
And you will be just as perfect for him
It takes time to realize ---

There'll be floors to mop, his shirts to iron
You'll find some button missing
Not enough time to do it all
Not much time left for kissing.

There'll be pans to scrub from those cookies burned
And that dripping fridge to defrost
And windows that you can't see through
You'll wish that you could get lost!

Your flour bag will empty, the money spent
And there'll be no more 'til the first!
These are those times I'm warning you of
You'll think that life's at it's worst.

But hang in there dear, you need to know
There's much more of this to come
Just grit your teeth and bear it
You've only just begun!

Think of the meals you'll have to fix
But it will be so much fun
When everything turns out just right
Then Casey doesn't come!

But he'll finally appear with flowers in his hand
You could have bought a big roast!
He holds you close and whispers sweet talk
Now, what really matters most!

Yes, just like the change in the weather
From sunshine to wintry snows
You'll have good times and then you'll have bad ones
That's just the way life goes.

Now these are the words I want you to hear
Make sure as you journey through
That you'll find the roses, not the prickly thorns
The choosing is all up to you.

And someday you will be my age
And then you'll look back and say
Life has been beautiful only because
The blue skies took turns with the gray!

Love,
Grandma

March 10, 1990