I have always loved love.

Since I was a little girl there was nothing that I enjoyed more than watching romantic movies, reading books about two people falling madly in love and recently watching an obscene amount of wedding videos on Youtube.

To me, there is just something so magical about how people who truly love each other look at one another, how they support each other throughout whatever life throws at them, and the life that they have built together. But out of all of the movies I have watched and stories I have read, there has been one love story in my life that has really made the biggest difference – my grandparents.

Today, 50 years ago Rick and Carol got married and started the rest of their lives together.

It isn’t one of those love stories where everything was perfect and a dream come true. They were young. They had obstacles and challenges that were not going to be easy to overcome. But they believed in their love and it was that love and those vows that got them to today.

June 5, 2020 – 50 Years of marriage.

And in my 22 years of being a part of this love story, I can tell you that there is so much to celebrate today.

The life that they have created together.

The family that they built.

The love that is still so apparent every time they look at each other.

It is unlike anything I have ever watched in a movie, read in a book or seen on a Youtube wedding video.

IT IS REAL.

I can only dream of a relationship so strong and so pure that it can get through the toughest challenges of life and still allow for so much love. They have set an example and precedent for me that I will forever be thankful for. That your partner should not only love you but that they should support you, defend you and believe in you, ALWAYS.

That young boy and girl who had their whole lives ahead of them had no idea that 50 years from then that this would end up being the life they were going to be celebrating today, but they believed in their love… and to me, that is the best love story of them all.

Congrats, Grandma and Grandpa! I love you.