That's a long time. That's the average life expectancy in the United States, but it is also the number of years that my grandparents have been together.
In this day and age it is hard to find couple that have been together five years, let alone almost eight decades. My grandparents started "going steady" the first day of first grade. My grandpa walked my granny home from school and it was all over from there. Once I found out about this, my first question was, "Well did you ever break-up?"
My grandpa looked at me, laughed and said, "Nope, it was one long engagement." The only time they ever encountered a hiccup in their relationship was when another boy walked my granny home from school, and my grandpa solved that by pushing the kid in a creek.
In their 79 years together they have created two businesses, three children, fifteen grandchildren, 10 great-grandchildren, and one great-great-grandchild.
They have suffered and they have flourished. They've endured tragedies and miracles. They've lost three grandchildren in tragic and horrific manners. They support their son, and my father, that has a brain tumor and Alzheimer's disease, yet they don't let these bumps in the road bog them down. Instead, they rely on their love for each other and their love for the Lord to pull them through.
Not only do I love them, but I admire them for their sustainability and their courage. They support me with whatever that I do and I couldn't be more grateful. I believe that individually they are refreshing, but together they are inspiring.
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