I read a story the other day about a couple in their mid 90s. They'd been high school sweethearts and were married for over 75 years. In later years the husband had been put in a nursing home because he was sickly and his now elderly children couldn't care for him the way he needed. The wife lived with one of the children and every day, without fail, they brought her to the nursing home to visit her sweetheart. She was active and in good health for a woman in her 90s. Then one morning she just didn't wake up.
The couples children knew that their father would know immediately if they showed up at the nursing home without their mother. They talked about it and all decided to go to tell their father together that their mother had passed. Surprisingly, he took the news well. They visited for an hour and then went home. An hour or two later, they got a call from the nursing home that their father had passed. The same day as the mother.
Why am I telling you this story? Well, in truth, I've read this story in the paper several times. While I'm always a little sad when reading it, I always end up feeling uplifted by what this couple represents. They lived a lifetime together completely in love and committed to one another. That's what I write about. Or at least, I try to write about, love and commitment. We all know that eventually God will take us when he is ready. But for this couple, two people who probably didn't know which fingers were whose when they held hands because their life was so entwined, He took them on the same day after a sharing a lifetime together. Sure, they probably had weathered many storms, but in the end they were as one.
I'll admit I'm a bit of a sap. After all I do write romance because I believe in the power of love. And every time I see my father's aunt and uncle who, like the people in this story, have been married over 75 years and still dance cheek to cheek on the dance floor like sweethearts, I'm reminded that true love and commitment really happens to those who believe.
Until next time, many blessings to you,
Lisa
Christian Romance Authors with Fictionalized Tales of Intriguing Edginess
1 comment:
Thanks for sharing this story. My grandparents were both put in the nursing home at the same time. Grandpa would march up and down the hallways many times daily and have a friend come and quiz him with hard stuff and memory work.
The day Grandma died, he stopped it all but he lived for another 2 1/2 months. He told me he was just keeping himself up in case she needed him.
Pam
cepjwms at yahoo dot com
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