Twinkling Eyes

As I was listening to the weather warnings a couple of weeks ago, and looking for distraction from thoughts of hibernating, I found the quote below. It was not my father who came to mind but my late husband Jack.

I was glad my father was an eye-smiler. It meant he never gave me a fake smile because it’s impossible to make your eyes twinkle if you aren’t feeling twinkly yourself. A mouth-smile is different. You can fake a mouth-smile any time you want, simply by moving your lips. I’ve also learned that a real mouth-smile always has an eye-smile to go with it. So watch out, I say, when someone smiles at you but his eyes stay the same. It’s sure to be a phony.  ~ Roald Dahl 

Jack’s eyes twinkled from the moment he woke in the morning, until his head hit the pillow at night. It was impossible to be cross or sad when he was around. It did not matter what I did, be it break a favourite  possession or lose the dining table under a mountain of sewing/craft work, he was patient. If the meal I  made was a disaster, he never complained. His constant mantra at times like these was always accompanied by a twinkling eye smile:

“It is not as bad as a bad marriage!” 

Today would have been his birthday, and as always, I will raise a glass in memory of those twinkling eyes that captured and warmed my heart.

20 thoughts on “Twinkling Eyes

  1. nick

    He’s so right about the phony mouth-smile with the giveaway cold eyes. As seen on politicians everywhere. But Jack obviously had a genuinely sunny disposition!

    Reply
    1. Grannymar Post author

      Nick, Jack was one of the most positive people I ever met and he had an amaging ability to spot a wallflower across a room and gently draw them into the conversation, Soon they were feeling they were the most important if not the only person with him in the room. He never really had respect for the noisy stage hoggers in love with their own voices.

      Reply
        1. Grannymar Post author

          Shackman, I will shortly be pouring that drink and will drink a toast to both our lost loves! Sláinte!

          Reply
  2. jay53

    Oh, I am so sorry you lost your Jack, but you were blessed to have him as a life partner. Any man with sparkle is a treasure – and you’re absolutely right about the eyes needing to smile as well as the mouth. It’s the only way to tell a real smile from a fake one!

    Reply
  3. Wisewebwoman

    Lovely post GM, was Jack born that way or made that way? I’m always curious as to the origins of people’s personalities. I know Jack survived a lot of tragedy so maybe he embraced more fiercely the positives?
    XO
    WWW

    Reply
    1. Grannymar Post author

      Jack had a tough beginning: 2lbs at birth and not expected to live more than a day or so. His mother was very ill, so he spent much of the first couple of years with his Aunt Nell, She was a wonderful character and full of fun (I never had the opportunity to meet his parents) I was always made welcome in her home and she actually came and stayed with us for a holiday. We spent the few weeks laughing at the tales she told, Perhaps she influenced his outlook on life. She survived until her 103rd year and died a year before Jack.

      Reply

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