I think it is fitting that my first ever article be about my Grandparents Mary and Art because it is their anniversary today. Today is their 68th anniversary and I say is because I know without knowing that they are still together even though they have been in heaven together for the last seven and a half years. I know that they are still in love because to them their marriage means more than just saying I love you, their marriage is about acting like they love each other. And Heaven was not about to change that. For the 52 years, they were together they never left each other's side. Their marriage as Taylor Swift once said, is a true love story.
Marriage to Mary and Art was more than an event or an institution. It was a commitment to love and respect each other for eternity. Marriage was not about having one fight and getting a divorce and moving on, it was about mending each fight and coming out stronger because of it. To them, it was a gift from God, a gift that only God himself could have given them because it was such a divine gift. Marriage gave my Grandmother her best friend and my Grandfather his best friend. Marriage to my Grandmother meant at the age of 80 visiting her husband more than three times a day when he was in a nursing home recovering from a stroke and bringing him every one of his meals. Marriage to Gram was about reading Grandpa his newspaper every morning while they sat on the couch. To my Grandfather marriage meant paying cash for a house for sale that my Grandmother fell in love on her way to work even though they bought a house months before. They went on to spend 52 years together in that house. To both of them, it was more than a house. It was a symbol of sacrifice and a collection of everything that was important to them. To Art, marriage meant despite being legally blind and not remembering what a lot of things looked like, saying to my Grandmother "I will never forget the way you look because when I saw you walk down the aisle I told my brother you were the prettiest woman I ever saw."
The length of their marriage was a testament to the once popular idea that when something was broken you did not throw it away, you fixed it. But the memories made within those 52 years were more important than the length of the marriage, although the length is an impressive feat as well.
To me their marriage means the world. It meant for my first three years of life I had twice the love. Even after my Grandfather died and until my Grandmother's last breath I still felt both of their love because one could never be without the other. Their marriage also gave me a lifetime of memories. My Grandfather died when I was three and my Grandmother lived for eight more years but she made it seem like he was still there. He was a part of her for 52 years and his spirit remained within her even after he passed. She kept his spirit alive by telling me stories, showing me album after album of old pictures, and giving me his wallet, hunting license, and his favorite hat that he would wear every day. She did all of this even though as I look back, it must have broken her heart. Yet she still smiled because passing on old treasures and old memories meant there was once a time when this memory was being created together. Retelling stories meant that there was a story to tell because of their love. To me, their marriage is something that I wish to experience with my future husband. So happy anniversary Mary and Art, have some spaghetti and meatballs and celebrate that sweet Red Sox win with a bowl of ice cream.
