Sixty two years ago today, God joined together a gentlemanly young man and a graceful young woman in a marriage that would last a lifetime. Having met at only sixteen and fourteen, respectively, Hank and Donna fell in love at an innocent age, committing wholeheartedly to one another nearly from the day they met. Over the years, the couple was blessed by the fruits of their persistence to do what was right and to honor each other, and when Hank (Henry) died forty years later, the two were still shining a light in the world through their love of family, their dedication to faith, and each, their gentleness toward the other. Together they had built a family: three daughters and a son, and eventually, had welcomed nine grand-children, too. The eldest–a granddaughter, soaked in all she could of the pair, spending days on end at Grandpa and Gramma’s while growing up, and always cultivating more of the person she someday hoped to be…

Today, I am still that same girl…only twenty two years removed from the day that Grandpa and Gramma’s earthly existence as a couple came to a halt far too soon. For twenty one years and some odd months following, I was further blessed to witness the continued example carried out by Donna Mae–my beautiful grandmother, a best friend, and one of the most faithfully committed wives I will ever know. Without Grandpa for more than two decades before she died, Gramma loved her Henry as much at eighty-one as she did when she married him at nineteen. Undoubtedly, she had grown to love him even more over all that time.

This year marks the first in many that the pair will celebrate together–united again, I am certain, in Heaven. If eternity kept time the way we do here on earth, Hank and Donna would be dolled up and out to dance tonight, marking a lifetime filled with an abundance of good, colored by their faithfulness and steadfastness to one another through the hardest things and the very best things that life has to offer. Perhaps they’re waltzing on streets of gold, or dining with the King. In a time and space in the universe when the institution of marriage is getting dragged emphatically through the mud, I trust that there is a significant celebration taking place in their honor–one way or another, as each lived so faithfully in their marriage covenant and their commitment to God.

I can’t put words to the gratitude I have toward my grandparents–Hank and Donna, and Jack and Betty, both. Their lives were no easier than ours are today. In fact, they were often harder, and certainly still peppered with heartache, disappointment, disagreement, and inconvenience. But they remained unwavered. They lived by what they were taught, and didn’t disregard it. They were frugal, yet generous. Had wisdom, but shared it cautiously. Hospitable to others, but prioritized family. They loved and weathered and persisted, and fixed things when they were broken. And if they didn’t, they still turned back to the middle–not away. They were married for life. For a lifetime. Forever.

I wonder if we’ll ever see a generation again that cares so much about honoring commitment–about keeping a word and staying true to it, no matter how trying or stretching the exercise may be. We do not have the luxury of being casual about marriage today, and yet, as a collective society, we are. We have lost sight of what our grandparents knew and so carefully modeled for us. And we are certainly no better for it.

I marvel at couples today who, like my grandparents, are marking half a century or more of committed, cultivated, beautiful love together. I crave what they have. I draw upon their example. And I celebrate the work that God has done to uphold them and bind them in the best and worst of times. If 1950 could speak today, I think it would tell us to persevere and keep loving–to always choose love and covenant over any alternative. Through Hank and Donna at least, for this grandchild, the message is coming in loud and clear.

As hard as it is to be without them here, it delights me to imagine one of my favorite duos united again at last. Two souls bonded together in such a way are surely deserving of the very best kind of party Heaven has to offer!

thankful, and aiming at 62.

mm