My guest blogger this week is my friend and colleague Chloe Hamilton from Warm Embrace Elder Care. I love this heartwarming story that Chloe shares. I hope you do too!
Chloe says: One of the greatest honours I have in my position at Warm Embrace Elder Care, is to witness the lives of our incredible clients, and to be invited into their lives at such an important moment. I am frequently astounded at all the challenges my elderly clients have overcome, and their subsequent life view.
Witnessing love that has developed over a 65 year marriage is phenomenal. I recently met a couple who is in their mid-eighties and is approaching their 66th wedding anniversary. I marveled at the feat and asked how they had initially met.
She was 19 and he was 22 years old. He arrived late to a dance, and just as he was arriving, she was packing up to leave. He thought she was the most beautiful girl he’d ever seen, and he overcame his usual shyness and requested a dance with her. She conceded, and they danced the night away. Sixty-five years later, that couple is still waltzing through life together.
How incredible! As very young adults, they were attracted to each other, and then created love out of that union. The gentleman told me that: “she was so beautiful that I thought I loved her. I didn’t even know what love was yet! It is now that I truly love her. I love her more and more each year.”
To be in the presence of such enduring love, such dedication and loyalty, is truly humbling. In today’s world, young people in their late teens and early twenties feel they don’t know themselves yet, much less have the ability to truly know someone else. Today’s young generation wait to “fall” in love and find a “perfect” partner. The generation that married 65 years ago had a totally different approach. They found a partner with whom they could connect, and they determined to create love and create a life together. Quitting wasn’t an option; when trouble arose, they faced it together and created a solution.
The couple was curious about my fascination with their 65-year marriage. They don’t view it as being extraordinary in anyway; I was clearly impressed. I explained how there are entire sections of bookstores dedicated to self-help guidance on relationships, love, and marriage. They guffawed and thought that was ridiculous; then the woman said: “I’m not saying it was always easy. It wasn’t. We had our troubles just like anyone else. But we made a promise to each other, and we’re people who keep our word. So when it got tough, we just decided to keep going and wait for the feeling of love to return. Sure enough, it did!” I teased her that with advice as simple and straightforward as that, she might put the relationship section of the bookstore out of business!
These two marvelous people are so interconnected that they almost operate as one. They’re beyond finishing each other’s sentences; it seems they sometimes communicate without even saying a word! They know each other’s likes and dislikes right down to the correct teaspoon served with afternoon tea. They can only recollect being apart for a handful of nights their entire marriage. Now, life has become just a little more challenging, and living together at home requires some assistance. What an honour it is for us to provide the caregiving this couple needs to remain at home together. I can’t imagine how difficult it would be for this couple to be split up if one person were sent to a nursing home and the other remained at home. They can’t even fathom it! Thank goodness home care allows them to remain together, and allows their touching love story to continue.
They tell me that this is the final chapter of their love story. With all the adversity this couple has faced and survived, I wouldn’t be surprised if they celebrated their 70th and 75th wedding anniversaries! I’m so privileged to witness and be inspired by this enduring love.
| Warm Embrace Elder Care is a family business, operated by a mother, Brenda Hamilton and her daughters Chloe & Avery Hamilton. A family working together to serve your family in a meaningful way. |
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