My grandparents have been married for over 50 years.
50 years of love, devotion, and of course their fair share of arguments. Nevertheless, they are the perfect couple. You never see one without the other. They are a package deal, and they wouldn't have it any other way. A few years back, my grandpa lost his wedding band. Both of them were devastated. Their relationship is the world to them, and this ring was more than just a symbol, it was over 50 years of memories that they shared. Although both of them put on brave faces, we all knew they were upset. My grandpa opted for one of his mother's rings that he wore to try and replace the blank space on his finger.
After a while, it was a thing of the past. It was just another memento lost in time. My grandparents have been through a hard time recently. My grandfather got a pacemaker and defibrillator implanted in his chest to help regulate his heart, and both my grandparents have been dealing with the effects. It can be said that they have never been closer. Before the surgery, however, they had to cut the replacement ring off my grandfather's hand, because it was stuck, and it needed to be removed before the procedure. So once again, there was a blank space.
After the surgery, my grandparents tried to return to a sense of normalcy. They are undoubtedly the strongest people I know. Their love for each other bound them tighter than ever and they found themselves playing many roles. Spouse, healer, support system, backbone. There is no one without the other. They endure. The other day my mom walked into my room with a huge smile on her face. She held out her hand, and perched on top of her own wedding ring, was my grandfather's wedding band.
A few years ago, my grandparents stayed at our house in our spare room upstairs. Our house is cleaned every week, and we never saw anything. Out of nowhere, as if it knew it needed to be found, the ring appeared. It was in the corner of the room waiting to be found during the time they needed a little faith. It blows my mind that we had never seen it before. It was almost as if it were meant to be. We went to my grandparent's house all bursting with excitement.
The first thing we did was show my grandfather his ring. I consider him an amazingly wise man of few words. Behind his eyes is a lifetime of knowledge and insight that I can never know. But my whole life, I had never seen his face light up as it did when he saw his ring. He sat down on his bed, inspecting it to make sure he wasn't imagining it. But, unmistakably, on the inside was the inscription "TSS & MSS," their initials. My grandma sat next to my grandpa clearly very emotional. They both sat in shock and disbelief at this lost treasure that told so much history, so much love, so much nostalgia. Their eyes shone with overwhelming emotion. This came when they needed it the most. Although the ring didn't define their love, it was such an influential memory. Their love is everlasting and strong. I have never seen them so happy as I saw them in that moment. Both of them sitting next to each other staring at the gold ring that somehow symbolized everything they are.
