70 Years of Love

My in-laws celebrated 70 years of marital bliss yesterday!


These dear people are a true example of how to live your life.  While they started out with very little, they worked hard to build a good life for their family.  Though they came of age at a time when the roles of women and men were clearly defined, they embraced helping each other with child rearing and household duties when it was not yet fashionable to do so.  My father-in-law worked multiple jobs to enable his wife to stay home with the children. He never complained about doing so, but saw this was just something he had to do.  My mother-in-law always tells me how her husband would come home late at night after finishing his second job of the day and would tend the crying baby to let her get her rest.  That's more than dedication, it's love!


Today, my in-laws are elderly and becoming frail, yet they still hold hands when they walk and they always are together.  My father-in-law helps bath and dress his wife of 70 years without complaint... I hear he powders her bottom to keep her feeling fresh and comfortable (they now need to wear "paper underwear.")  That's more than dedication, it's love!


My mother-in-law has short-term memory issues, so her husband does the daily cooking and laundry.  Every evening, he gives her ice cream because it's her favorite.  That's more than dedication, it's love!


On Sunday, Valentine's Day, we invited the family and some friends to celebrate with my in-laws their longevity and happily married life together.  One cousin brought a CD and played one of my in-law's favorite waltz... watching them dance to that song brought tears to every eye in the room.  That's more than dedication, it's love!