Living on Love

"The question is asked. 'Is there anything more beautiful in life than a boy and girl clasping clean hands and pure hearts in the path of marriage? Can there be anything more beautiful than young love?'
And the answer is given. 'Yes, there is a more beautiful thing. It is the spectacle of an old man and an old woman finishing their journey together on that path. Their hands are gnarled, but still clasped; their faces are seamed, but still radiant; their hearts are physically bowed and tired, but still strong with love and devotion for one another. Yes, there is a more beautiful thing than young love... Old love.' "
-Author Unknown

I have had, in my still relatively short life, opportunity to watch and learn from so many great couples. Probably my favorite couple was my grandparents. My grandpa was 7years older than my grandma, and they were not one of those couples that people were thrilled with. It was just a mismatch. My grandpa was this hard-working deeply-tanned farm boy, fresh back from a tour of duty, and my grandma was fresh out of high school with a small frame, and lily skin. But they were in love. And in all those years I don't think they ever fell out of love! I remember finding one of those "naughty" birthday cards that my grandma had gotten for my grandpa for his birthday. I mean, they were just that "in-love". Even up until the end, when my grandpa went through the cancer... and as it ravaged his body which had always been so healthy, my grandma became the strong one. I was reading something this weekend and it reminded me of that scene which is so vivid in my head of sitting on the swingset with my grandpa probably the last time that i saw him, and him talking about Grandma, and how she was the best thing that ever happened to him. And the equally as pungent memory of walking into that beautiful house (that he built with his own two hands for her) the day of the funeral and meeting my grandma in the hall... and there was no words, we just went straight into each other's arms. And she was once again the strong one as we clung to each other and cried. I have visited that gravesite so many times, with my grandma and all alone, and just stood there, wondering and wishing, with a few tears. Because I wonder if I will ever be able to have a love like theirs.
And the real thing that got me to thinking about all this was one of my patients the other day... cause I was thinking how she can't even hear him anymore, and he forgets where she is when she goes to the hair salon, but they still share the same bed every night and tell each other "I love you" before the lights go out.
I wonder how much of it is just habit... and how much of it is that they really feel the way that we do now, when we are hot and heavy and wanting to be near each other every second of the day? Is it possible to keep that... to be fully in love for the rest of your life?
Or is it a different kind of love?
"In fact the state of being 'in love' usually does not last... but of course ceasing to be 'in love' does not mean ceasing to love. Love... is a deep unity, maintained by the will and deliberately strengthened by habit; reinforced by the grace, which both partners ask and receive from God..." --C.S. Lewis (Mere Christianity)