Example 1: Married 52 years, warm with a few laughs, about 4 minutes
550 words · about 4 min spoken
Hello everyone. For those who haven’t met me yet, I’m Evelyn, though around here I still answer to Nana Eve. It’s my great joy to stand here as Jada’s grandmother, and to welcome all of you—especially Caleb and his family—into ours.
It’s a funny thing, watching your grandchild grow up. I still remember the little girl who spent every summer with us in Savannah. Jada would set up her “restaurant” on the back porch, hand out crayon menus, and charge her granddaddy a quarter for a glass of sweet tea. If you ever wonder where her bossy streak comes from, just ask Harold—she was running that restaurant with an iron fist at age five.
These days, Jada is all grown up and teaching high school chemistry in Atlanta. Her students adore her, though I suspect they get a little more science and a little less caramel cake than I did. She is still kind, still remembers everyone’s birthday—including the dog’s—and, yes, is still a little bossy, but only in the nicest way. If you forget a birthday, she’ll remind you and bring a cake.
Some of my favorite memories are from our Saturdays in the kitchen. I taught Jada to bake my mother’s caramel cake. She was eight the year she insisted she could do it all by herself. Our dog Peanut was whiter than the flour by the time she finished. When Jada went off to college, I gave her a recipe box with all our family recipes. Last Christmas, she handed it back to me with a new card in her handwriting: 'Caramel Cake, Jada’s Way.' She says hers is better than mine. She is mistaken, but I love her confidence.
Now, the first time I met Caleb, it was a hot July day. We welcomed him the Savannah way: with a bushel of butter beans to shell on the porch. I figured we’d see what he was made of. He shelled every last bean without a complaint and then asked me how I cook them. That’s when Harold leaned over and said, 'That boy will do.'
What I love most about Jada and Caleb together is how they balance each other out. Jada is a whirlwind—she can organize a family dinner and remember every ingredient at once. Caleb is the calm in her storm. He gets her to slow down and just sit with him on the porch. The two of them cooking Sunday dinner together is a sight that makes my heart full.
Now, after 52 years with Harold—he’s right there at the front table—I’ve learned a few things. People always say never go to bed angry. I say, sometimes you go to bed, get some sleep, and in the morning, things don’t seem quite so big. What matters most is you both keep showing up at the table, day after day.
My wish for you, Jada and Caleb, is this: keep a standing date. Harold and I never missed our Friday fish fry at the same little place, for 52 years. Find your own Friday fish fry—whatever it is—and never give it up. Keep showing up for each other.
(Raise your glass) Here’s to Jada and Caleb—may your porch always be full, your cake always rise, and your table never lack love or laughter. Cheers!
What the writer told Toastful to get this speech
- Speaker
- Evelyn, grandmother of the bride
- Childhood
- Jada spent every summer from age five to fourteen at our house in Savannah, Georgia. She called me Nana Eve and ran a 'restaurant' on our back porch with crayon menus, charging her granddaddy a quarter for a glass of sweet tea.
- Personality
- Today Jada teaches high school chemistry in Atlanta, and her students adore her. She is still a little bossy, but in the kindest way, and she remembers everybody's birthday, including the dog's.
- First impression
- The first time Jada brought Caleb to Savannah, it was July, so I handed him an apron and a bushel of butter beans to shell on the porch. He shelled every last one without complaining, then asked me how I cook them. My husband Harold told me, 'That boy will do.'
- Stories
- On Saturdays I taught Jada to bake my mother's caramel cake. At eight she insisted on doing it all by herself, and our dog, Peanut, ended up covered in flour. When she left for college, I gave her a recipe box with all our family recipes on index cards. Last Christmas she handed it back with one new card in her own handwriting: 'Caramel Cake, Jada's Way.' She says it's better than mine. It is not.
- Wisdom to pass on
- Harold and I have been married 52 years, and he's sitting right there at the front table. People say never go to bed angry. I say sometimes you go to bed, get some sleep, and in the morning it's not nearly as big. What matters is that you both keep showing up at the table.
- The couple
- Caleb is calm and Jada is a whirlwind. He gets her to sit still on the porch, and they cook dinner together every Sunday night.
- Wishes
- Keep a standing date. Harold and I have gone to the Friday fish fry at the same little place for 52 years. Find your own Friday fish fry and never give it up.