A Real Love Story

Over the past few weeks, I have seen the truest love anyone will ever witness. I saw a glimpse of it 6 years ago, but I was drowning in guilt and grief and couldn't see it clearly. This time, I have had the awesome privilege of drinking in the picture of true love.

Their story started over 50 years ago in a little West Virginia town. She told me that his younger brother used to walk her home from school, but he was the one she thought of. She told me that he used to sit on the steps of the general store and smoke his cigarettes, but he gave them up when she told him she didn't like that. She told me about when he asked her to be his bride and they went to the preacher's house to be married. I can just imagine the look on her face as she said, "I do". I can imagine it because I've seen the way she still looks at him. It's not at all difficult for me to picture him as the preacher said, "You may kiss your bride." I see it clearly because he still blots her lipstick for her.

The next years were spent working and raising children and caring for aging parents. Four children they sent out into the world. My mother used to tell me stories about growing up. She would tell me that their house was where all of her friends wanted to gather. Even children can feel when a house is filled to the brim with love. My own friends all called her Grandma...and she really was everyone's Grandma. But she was mine first.

I have watched them as they have grown older and slowed down, as their health has declined. He washed her hair when she couldn't do it herself. He took over the grocery shopping when she was too tired to walk through the store. Never once did I hear him complain. I don't think it would have occurred to him to not want to take care of her.

Now, I watch him watching her as she struggles to breathe. He has not left her side for days. The chair he occupies is not a comfortable one. He doesn't say a word. At night, he turns the chair so that he can better see her face. I watch him gently stroke her hair and kiss her face and I can't help but think how lost he will be when she's gone. She's been the rock of our family, the one we all lean on. She's been the glue that holds us together. Nothing will ever be the same again.

Young couples think they have the monopoly on love and romance, but they have no idea what love is really about. Love is staying together through 50 years of babies and fights and jobs and deaths and joys. Love is slowing your steps when the one you love can no longer walk quickly. Love is sitting constantly by her bedside knowing that the minutes you share with her are numbered. I have been so incredibly blessed to have been a part of their love story and would give anything if only I could change the ending that must come.