I’m enamored by couples that have been together for decades. Every time I see grandparents or older couples at weddings I can’t help but watch them interact. How he helps her from her chair. How they dance together. How they let the other taste the meal they chose. How she makes him laugh.
I want to ask them all their secrets to a long marriage… I want them to tell me their story. I want to hear how they met, how they courted each other, if there was a proposal… I want to hear about their hardships, their good days, their favorite memories. I want to hear it all.
I often think about these day to day moments James and I are in now and I wonder if we’ll remember them in 50 years. I wonder if we’ll remember how Chloe was as a puppy. I wonder if the pain we felt when Phoenix passed away will still be fresh in our minds many years down the road. I think about children we might have, dreams we might reach, and dreams we might not reach… I think about it all. I think of us old with aching bodies, but young minds. I think of James helping me out of my chair, and holding my arm as we cross the street. I think of sitting over dinner together, holding hands, talking about politics… about our kids… about our grandkids.
Because as much as I think what we are going through now is fabulous… and as much as I think what we have now is a beautiful thing… I think it becomes even finer and more beautiful with age, with years, and with wisdom that only comes through experience.
I hope we can be one of those couples attending a wedding 50 years down the road. One of those couples that are the last ones on the floor during the anniversary dance, announcing proudly how many years we’ve been together and sharing advice with the newlyweds.
It makes me think of an anonymous quote that I wrote down in my quote book way back when I was just in middle school…
It read, “Love at first sight is easy to understand. It’s when two people have been looking at each other for years that it becomes a miracle.”
I can only hope we are lucky enough to live a long life together and experience that miracle.
(iPhone photo taken after yesterday’s proposal shoot after I’d packed up my gear. I couldn’t resist but snap a photo of this couple taking an afternoon walk together.)
