My Grandparents Love

I have always known how much my Grandparents love each other, but it was when I was home on Sunday I think I truly got the meaning of true love.  They say you're lucky if you get to experience this in your life, I would agree.  They are two of the luckiest people I know.

My Grandparents were set up on a blind date by my Grandma's best friend. They went out and my Grandma says she liked him, but didn't think much of it, she was into other things, such as playing basketball and hanging out with her friends. After the 3rd date, she came home and my great-grandmother (Gram) told her that she was going to marry that boy. Well, she did. After only a few short months of dating my Grandpa asked my Grandma to marry him. She told him she would think about it, but the took the ring anyways. She told him he had to promise not to go out drinking, dancing, or gambling. She wouldn't stand for those things. He told her ok, and 3 months later they were married.

People say that you don't truly know a person in that short amount of time, and I say that is bullshit! My Grandparents knew each other and knew what kind of life they wanted, and knew that it would take each other to have that kind of life. You see, my Grandpa wanted 6 kids, thank goodness that didn't happen. My Grandma said no, and they settled at 3. My Grandma wanted to work, and my Grandpa said no, she needed to stay home and take care of the house and kids, so my Grandma became a babysitter to other kids as well.
These two examples are things that couples would end up getting divorced over these days, and there are simple resolutions, you just have to compromise. My Grandma says that you compromise when you love somebody.

While I was at the nursing home with her for a few short hours, from about 12-3, her and my Grandpa talked on the phone 2 times. They take turns calling each other every other hour or so to talk. What they have to talk about in an hours time, I could not tell you, but they do. My Grandpa misses her dearly being at home and my Grandma is going crazy not being with him. She told me she used to think their marriage worked out so well because my Grandpa worked two jobs and was gone all the time, and now she doesnt think thats true. She says she cant imagine being without him and she looks back and wonders how she ever spent that much time without him.

My Grandparents weren't the type of parents to raise their kids and then live some fun life by themselves. They have been married for 51 years, and my Grandma added up that they have only been empty nesters for about 3.5 years total. Not all at once, they have never gone more than a year without a child or grandchild living with them.  You could say this means they failed, a lot of people do. But that isn't the case. My grandparents raised us to want to be at home. If I need help, I call them, if I am hurt, I call them, if I am happy, I call them, if I am sad, I call them.  And everyone in my family feels the same way. There is something about them that makes you want to be with them no matter what sacrafices you have to make in your life to be there.

I may never experience the love that my Grandparents have for each other, but I will always know what true love looks and feels like to the outside world. I have two of the best examples of it in front of me.