Marriage

My grandparents got married at a courthouse, and they lasted for seventy years before they passed away. When I was younger, I asked them what it took to make a marriage last that long, and they said a lot of compromise and love. They said they may have had a lot of stress and arguments, but they always worked through it together and talked things out. The only serious argument I ever remember them having was a silly one when I was a child. My grandfather used to joke that he was going to trade my grandmother in for a newer model. Well, one day while fixing breakfast, he told her that, and it was the last straw she had on hearing that saying, so she picked up the cast iron skillet and threatened to knock him out with it if he ever said that again. About an hour or so later, they were making up and hugging each other, and he told her, “Dear, you know I'd never trade you in. You're my other half.”

Even though they had been together all those years, they still showed each other how much they cared for and loved one another. Even if it was a small thing like him buying flowers on a random day for her or her getting a new tie for him to wear for church, they were each other's soul mates. When they got married, my grandmother was only eighteen and my grandfather was twenty-two. They ended up having four kids and a bunch of grandkids and great-grandkids. We were a very close family because of them and the way they had a hand in helping to raise us. They also had a hand in showing us right from wrong.

When they started out as a young married couple, they lived in a very small town called Yerkes, a place outside of Hazard in Kentucky. During that time, my grandfather ended up serving in World War 2 on a Navy ship while my grandmother stayed home with the kids. They eventually moved to a house in Winchester when he came home, and they lived there all the way up until they passed away. My grandparents were inseparable at those times, and they hardly ever went anywhere without the other. If my grandmother wanted to go shopping, my grandfather would take her. Sometimes, he went in with her. Other times, he would just wait in the car until she had finished her shopping. Also if he wanted to go out and eat, he would wait in the car until she got ready and would even give a little beep on the car horn just to let her know he was outside, still waiting for her. He passed away a little over two years before she did. When we finally lost my grandmother, we all said that Grandpa was letting her know that he was ready for her to come home to heaven by honking on the car horn to let her know that it was time for her to come. It helped ease the hurt of the loss, knowing that they were back with each other again. Now that I'm older and married with kids, I know that I have found the same kind of love that they both had for each other. I just hope that we can last for as long as they did — hopefully even longer. It just depends on how long we are alive together. For everyone out there that is reading this, I hope that all of you find your soul mate in life, the one person that you are willing to spend years with. Not someone who hurts and uses you, but someone who truly appreciates you and shows you every day that you are together how much they love you and just how special you are. Also, I hope you can show them the same in return. I hope you enjoyed reading this and that it helped show a bit of what true love looks like. I would also like to thank everyone that took the time to read this. I would also like to say I wish everyone the best in life and hope you find your other half like they did and I did.