Title - Love Family Style - First Generation 

Author name - Carol 

E-mail - writestories315@yahoo.com 

Rating - G (I think there might be one bad word)

Spoilers - Full Engagement 

Disclaimer - I own nothing. Nor do I admit to owning
anything. If I really owned anything do you think it
would take me 15 years to pay back my students loans. 

Summery - Ever wonder where and how the Rabb family
got started.

Author's Notes - The song Love Me by Collin Raye was
the inspiration for this and lyrics are thrown into
the story. 



Rabb Farm

Belleville, Pennsylvania 

Friday July 5, 2002 



“Harmon, if you want unconditional love get a puppy.
If you want love that’s going to last a lifetime get
your soulmate.” Sarah Rabb told her grandson as they
sat on the back porch and watched Sergie and his
girlfriend Evelyn ride horses behind the farm.  



“It’s not that easy, Grandma.” Harm whined to her. 



“If love was meant to be easy it would be called
something else.”  



Harm smiled, “Mom told me that once.” 



“She had you father say it to her, who heard me say it
to him, who had your grandfather tell it to me.” She
said with a smile on her face, thinking about her late
husband. 



“Tell me about you and grandpa?” Harm asked. 



“Why do you want to hear an old lady ramble?” She
asked her grandson knowing that they’ve never really
talked about him in the past few years. 



Harm smiled at her and explained, “So when my wife is
your age she can tell our grandson the story of his
great-grandparents.” 



“So your going to get married one day?” She teased her
still-unattached grandson. “OK Honey I’ll tell you the
story.” 



“The year was 1935 and I was 16 that year, while David
was 18. He lived just down the road from our farm, a
few miles. My father hated him, but there was
something about this blue-eyed boy that I was in love
with. Hells bells, any girl with a heart was in love
with Mr. David Rabb, but he only had eyes for me. He
said once that my smile took him places his planes
couldn’t. I told him he was full of bull.” 



Harm just laughed as he listed the words she was
saying.  



“All through school David was after me, asking for
help on homework or just plan flirting. He was the
first boy I ever kissed. And let me tell you
something, the boy could kiss. I told you mother it
was in the Rabb genes, but I’m sure some young lady
has all ready told you that, Harmon.” She played with
her grandson as he just blushed. 



“Well, during school and in the hot summer of that
year I would sneak out of my bedroom in the middle of
the night and meet David under this tree. One night he
surprised me and carved our initials in it. I thought
it was the sweetest thing he could have ever done for
me. When I finished my chores, I would tell Daddy I
was meeting Luanne or Lela. But I was meeting my
David. He had my heart and I had his.” Sarah then
paused, “He still does have mine?”  



“One night Daddy caught us at the tree and swore that
he ever saw Mr. David Rabb around his little girl he
was going shot him full of holes. He would make a
strainer look like a bowl.” Sarah then laughed, “Your
great-granddaddy did have a way with words.” 



“I went two weeks that summer without seeing my David.
Lela and Luanne were about ready kill me, cause all I
would talk about was my David. So I started to sneak
down to the tree to touch our initials and leave him
love notes. We never signed our names, we were scared
Daddy would catch us. We signed them, Love, Me.” 



“There was one note that David left me where he
proposed. He said that he couldn’t image a life
without me. Without me next to him, without me loving
him. He said he would give up his planes for me. He
promised me a house full of kids with his eyes and my
smile, all who of course would grow up and join the
Navy and be aviators.” Sarah then grabbed Harms hand,
“He did it after time.” 



“But back to the story.” She smiled. “We agreed on a
date and time of when we would do it. We promised to
meet at our tree and runaway. When we got to the first
town we saw we would get married and live there
forever.” She then frowned, “For some reason with his
great kissing ability came the ability to always be
late.” 



Harm then started laughing at that thinking of
himself. 



“Well, I got to our tree on time. I got away from
Daddy and I found a note.” She then paused, “Let me
see if I remember those words.” She then took a deep
breath, “If you get there before I do, don't give up
on me. I'll meet you when my chores are through. I
don't know how long I'll be. But I'm not gonna let you
down. Darling, wait and see and between now and then.
Till I see you again I'll be loving you. Love, Me.” 



She then wiped a tear from her eye. “I read that note
a hundred times before he got there. He kissed me and
we ran away. We ended up in Belleville, got married,
bought this farm. Nine months later your father was
born. I never saw David so happy, then when he held
Harmon in his arms.”  



“David gave me everything he promised. My house, my
kid who felt like a housefull of them. He even gave me
you and Sergie with my smile and his eyes. When David
bought that plane, he was on leave one time, I could
have shot him. In fact by that time Daddy had forgiven
David for stealing his little girl. So much so Daddy
gave me the shot gun to use on him.”  



Harm just laughed imagining his grandmother with a
shot gun. 



Then she lost her smile, “When he died I thought my
world died. But your father came up to me the day we
found out and said, ‘It’s OK Ma’ma. Daddy’s just
waiting for you to finish your chores.’ I never read
David’s letter to your father. But that night I read
it for the first time since we got married. I felt
David in the room, holding on to me.” 



Harm then leaned and kissed his grandmothers cheek.
“Is he still around?” Harm asked. 



“Every time your here my David comes, cause he’s part
of you just like your father.” She said to him tapping
on his heart. 



“At David’s funeral the whole town came out. Old
Mister Tellions, he said that David talked him into
selling his dear plane to him as a gift for me. David
told Mister Tellions that being in the air was like
being with his wife, free and off the ground.” She
said with a far away look in her eyes. 



“At the funeral I was presented the flag and then I
asked if I could read something for David. Back then
you didn’t do that, I was a rebel. I reached into my
pocket and pulled out David’s letter that he wrote me
and I repeated those words back to him. If you get
there before I do, don't give up on me. I'll meet you
when my chores are through. I don't know how long I'll
be. But I'm not gonna let you down. Darling, wait and
see and between now and then. Till I see you again
I'll be loving you. Love, Me.” 



“Those words still bring tears to my eyes. It was the
first time your father saw me cry. It wasn’t the
last.” Sarah said to him. “And I hope that someday my
grandson will hear this story about his
great-grandparents and how important love is.” 



“I promise.” Harm said to her. 



She raised an eyebrow, “Can I recommend a girl for ya?
She’s nice, sweet, and I know personally that her name
goes great with Rabb.” Harm then covered his face and
Sarah Rabb smiled at the thought of her grandson
happily married one day. 



The End