Story by Melissa Fenton
I happen to be follow this older couple around the Walmart yesterday for a few minutes. They were strolling through the store as if they were the only people in there, and by my guess were well into their 80s.
His arm never left her back. As a matter of fact, every few seconds he squeezed her harder towards him, and when he did, she would turn to look into his eyes, and practically giggle like a 15 year old girl who just ran into her crush at her locker between classes.
Then he would stop walking, lean in close, and whisper something into her ear, and her gaze would linger in his eyes for just a few seconds more.
I felt like I was watching two 20 something newlyweds furiously flirting, intimately sharing their evening plans with one another. And then I thought…well, so this is how it’s going to end. This is how- if we’re lucky, husbands and wives will all end up.
The two of them. The two of us. Just the two of us.
It will be exactly how we all started out, just us two, but after decades of a life that if we don’t let it crush our soul and we actually survive it, we will still have each other in the final years.
Here is a couple who by my guess have probably been married for over 50 years.
They had colicky babies. They had petulant toddlers. They had teenagers slamming doors and crashing their cars. They paid college bills. They had unemployed grown kids living in their basement. They threw birthday parties, graduation parties, bridal showers, baby showers, and weddings.
At some point they lost jobs, lost money, lost faith, lost hope, and probably spent months and maybe even years thinking they’d even lost each other, or at least, lost the love and chemistry they once had before the realities of life and family sucker punched them smack in the middle of their great love. And yet they made it.
We all have a lot of dreams and goals for our lives and our children, but when all is said and done, this is my goal. This couple right here, this is my goal.
To survive- even when we don’t thrive, but to survive all the years of ups and downs that marriage brings, and when we’re in our last years together, to stroll somewhere together more in love with each other than we have ever been.
New parents, you’re gonna make it though the no sleep years. Just hang on to each other.
Tween parents, you’re gonna make it through these busy years. Just hang on to each other.
Teen parents, you’re gonna make it through these insane years. Just hang on to each other.
College parents, you’re gonna make it through these unpredictable years. Just hang on to each other.
Parents of grown kids, you’re gonna make it through these worrisome years. Just hang on to each other.
And to this older couple I had the pleasure of watching, thank you for showing me just what “hanging on to each other” looks like in the end. It look pretty darn amazing.
You can follow her journey on: Facebook, Instagram and Website
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