"Choices About Love" by Ginny Foard

 – “You’ve got to do something about this,” they jibed him.  

Of course, later they told their kids that they loved us all. Usually they added, “despite the headaches you caused us.”

Ginny Foard’s parents had storytelling in their bones. Will’s hands reenacted stories, swooping up high or spinning across the table with an ice cream spoon while he added sound effects from an array of odd noises he’d been finetuning since his childhood. Kat read aloud from a thick storybook of Irish or English classics, with appropriate accents and engaging expressions. Except! She would often ask Ginny to pick out a book and then read it to her, while Kat stood ironing clothes from the large laundry basket. Ginny loved it all. She lives in a little post office box on Sullivan’s Island, South Carolina.

Author’s Talk

Ginny Foard (self-portrait)

I know my parents through their stories, told with joy, frustration, puzzlement, warning and love over many years. I’ve also got my own time with them, a wonderfully kept photo album that reaches far back in time, a few newspaper clippings and the backbone of staying connected - letters. Here I’ve pieced together many snippets of my parents’ memories to share my outlook on their more than 66 years of married life that had more ups and downs that I’m sure I’m not even aware of. Their enjoyment of making do in life was contagious.