Love For A Lifetime

I have been blessed in my life to not only have had the chance to know three of my great-grandparents, but also to have all four of my grandparents still living on Earth with me. Their impacts on my life, each and every one of them, have been stronger than they know, and I'm so very grateful to have gotten the chance to know them all.

Today, my grandparents on my mother's side celebrate their sixtieth wedding anniversary. Sixty years of loving one another, building a family, and letting that family go to expand into more than I believe even Grampy and Meme ever could have imagined. Each year when we visit them up at their camp I'm amazed by the vast amounts of names in the guestbook, and yet my grandparents love so unconditionally that I know I have my own special place in both of their hearts.

The love they share is no secret. Every time they come down to stay in our home, I catch myself smiling at the ever constant acts of kindness that my grandfather gives. There's not a moment when he isn't telling one of us how beautiful his wife is or recalling the story of how he fell in love with Meme while she blushes and rolls her eyes, perhaps in a bit too nonchalant a fashion, at his sweet words. He's the king of hamming it up for an audience, but the adoration and affection behind that facade is no joke. He truly does set the standard high for all those Romeos out there.

Though my great-grandparents have now passed away, my last great-grandfather entering Heaven just in this past year, I remind myself every day when I get one of those goofy chain emails from my grandfather, of just how very lucky I am. Although I don't always find the time to read these messages, I save them in a special folder on my account, knowing that one day when this wonderful man has passed on, I will read them and through the tears and the laughs of remembrance, I'll find comfort.

Happy Anniversary Meme and Grampy. The love you share is so special, and I love both of you so very much. I hope this day was as special for you as you are to me.