I got back on Sunday from spending a week in PA/OCNJ for my grandparents' 50th anniversary. It was AMAZING. My grandparents have been married for 50 years, and they love each other more than ever. Ever since I was old enough to understand marriage, I wanted to be just like my Nan-nan and Grandad. My Grandad still plays practical jokes on Nan-nan, like putting fake mice in the microwave, or sneaking up behind her and scaring her. She just says "RICHARD!" then smiles and shakes her head. He says he just wants to make sure her heart keeps on ticking (which is adorable, by the way).
At their anniversary party, I got to see all of their friends that they've known pretty much forever. My Nan-nan dressed in white, and looked just as beautiful as she did in all her wedding pictures. My grandfather wore a suit and was the most handsome man in the room. We clinked our glasses with our knives so that they would kiss, and it was the cutest kiss I've ever seen! I have more respect for and more admiration of their marriage than any other I've seen.
My grandparents are the coolest example of how God loves us. They love each other and everyone around them the way Christ loves us, the way God loves his bride, the Church. It's so encouraging for me to see that marriage can last this long and still contain more love than when it started. In this society, that's a huge feat.
So I'm praying that they can both come to my wedding someday, and that my husband and I can continue their legacy of love, while writing our own story.
"Place me like a seal over your heart,
like a seal on your arm;
for love is as strong as death,
its jealousy unyielding as the grave.
It burns like a blazing fire,
like a mighty flame.
Many waters cannot quench love;
rivers cannot wash it away.
If one were to give all the wealth of his house for love,
it would be utterly scorned."
Song of Solomon 8:6-7
