60 Years!

For those of you that don't know, these are my maternal grandparents. Most of you that know me have heard me talk about them, I'm sure. Today is their 60th Wedding Anniversary. That is a long time, especially by today's standards. Now I know other people that have been married a long time but there is one big difference. If you look at the picture above you can see that they are still holding hands. Even after 60 years.
Most people say that they want to have what my grandparents have in the picture above. A lot of those same people don't realize what it takes to achieve that. To many people settle for what comes a long and don't hold out for the real thing. Or they let stubbornness and pride get in the way. Take me for example. I am 32 years old and still looking. Its only been the last 2 years that I have started to really learn who i am and what it takes to achieve such a lofty goal. I have made many mistakes. Some of those mistakes are fixable and some of them you just cant come back from. In case this paragraph needs a translation ( I'm working on getting my head out of my ass).
My karma has taught me a lot. It has taught me about the repairable and the irreconcilably broken mistakes. I have made them both and had them shown to me as others made the same mistakes. Its not always easy to swallow your pride and forgive. I can forgive but where i really have trouble is forgetting.
When I was 6 my parents split up. I don't remember this story but my mom does. I took it really hard. She was trying to comfort me as i was sitting on my bed crying saying "I will never get married". So far i have been true to my word. Divorce is a hard thing. I had a friend that was in his late 20's when his parents got divorced. You would think it would be easier for him since he was older, but it wasn't. Sure, he handled it more like a grown up, but it was still just as hard for him to see his parents split up. I also have another friend who recently went through a divorce. It broke my heart when he told me that his 8 year old said that he was never going to get married. Some things your never get over.
Sometimes the hard things work out for the best. I think my mom feels guilty sometimes when i talk about that story. Like she feels it was her fault it happened or that maybe she could have done more to hold the family together. One of the other things i have learned is that what happens in life is not always in our control. You can want something and do everything you can and it just doesn't work out the way you plan. I do honestly believe that all of the family was better off in the long run with the way things worked out. I know people who's parents stayed together but were miserable. In the long run this is not any better than getting a divorce.
So here i am, a young impressionable boy. I have seen the heartbreak of divorce at a early age. I have also seen the real life fairy tail that my grandparents have. It makes it hard. Part of me wants so much to be old and gray. Holding hands and smacking my wife on the ass. I don't know if my grandparents do that or not, but its something this dirty old man will be doing. The other part of me is still that 6 year old. Sitting on the bed, trying to protect himself by staying out of harms way. That part of me has been growing up in the last 2 years though. Its hard though, but i know if i don't i wont have some old woman smiling as she rolls her eyes every time i give her a slap on her bottom. As i have said before, Life is long, so hopefully there is still time for this dirty still young man.
I know 60 years is not going to be the one big long moment of perfection that i have spoken about in other blogs. The picture above is though. To be in love with someone for 60 years and to still hold hands after all the trials and tribulations. That is a moment of perfection & to have those moments every day is a life well lived. I want to thank my grandparents today for being them, raising a good family and giving us all hope for the future.
HAPPY 60th ANNIVERSARY!