A Love 60 Years Young
Last weekend I made a whirlwind 60 hour trip, from Alaska back home to Minnesota, for a once in a lifetime celebration. June 10 was my grandparent's 60th wedding anniversary - the "Diamond Anniversary", a milestone only 5% of marriages will ever see.
My grandparents, Don and Donna Maeyaert, are "salt of the earth" people - farmers from rural Minnesota. They were raised on hard work, prayer, and community. Days started early with farm chores and field work, cooking, cleaning, and child rearing. Evenings were for family, friends and rest. When the farm work slowed down and the kids were grown they were able to spend their time traveling around the United States and Europe, causing trouble with their friends, and cheering on their grandchildren in scholarly and athletic endeavors.
Now, 60 years, 4 children, 11 grandchildren, and (almost) 8 great grandchildren later, they still abide by those same principles of work, prayer, and community. Deep into their 80s, these youngsters are still volunteering at the food shelter and the thrift store, attending Mass and saying the Rosary several days a week, meeting their friends to play cards at the community center, and even sometimes helping out on the farm that their sons now operate.
Although they have to attend more funerals these days, and their days of traveling the globe are mostly behind them, these two are still embracing every day and actively contributing to their community. Through their love and their life they have taught me to be kind and generous, to reach out to the broken and forgotten, to work hard and to take rest, to look for the good and to hold onto hope. They are teaching me what it means to lead a life well lived, and to leave a legacy of beauty.
The problem here is that I want to share with you every part of my grandparents. I want you to feel grandpa's whisker rub on your 10 year old cheek, or grandma's rib-cracking heimlich-squeeze hug. I want you to hear grandma's "Oh come on!" when grandpa says something outrageous and then winks at you, or to try to keep up when they say the rosary at super-speed before bed. I want you to walk in the park with grandma, or play a game according to grandpa's made-up rules. I want you to experience a lifetime full of memories with these people and, like me, come away striving to be half as good of a person as they so naturally are.
But these are MY grandparents, MY history. Every family has it's own story, it's own quirks you can only know from the inside. And even though you may never know my grandparents, just as I will likely never know yours, I hope that this snapshot of a 60 year love will remind you of all the good in this crazy world.
As my husband and I approach our 5 year anniversary, it is hard to imagine all the joy, sorrow, adventure, and trial the next 55 years might hold. Don and Donna Maeyaert have shown us how to handle it all with grace and good humor, and I am forever grateful for their life-giving love. Cheers to 60 years!