by

Eternal Love

Everyone knows I’m a bit strange when it comes to love stories.  I’m drawn to the “odd” ones you find in horror movies or action flicks…yet I also feel a kinship to those told through tales like Pride & Prejudice and The Notebook.  That doesn’t mean I’m going to like every chick flick out there though…there aren’t too many chick flicks I do like actually.  For a while now I’ve been seriously crushing on Ava and Boyd from Justified and hoping their relationship survives the season finale. If you don’t watch the show, suffice it to say they’re not your average couple. They’re more along the lines of a criminally hardcore Bonnie and Clyde. As I said, I’m a bit off. That’s okay. I embrace my weirdness.

But back here in the real world, who doesn’t want eternal love? It does exist. I’ve seen it. My parents for one. They’ve been married just shy of forever and while they bicker, they still hold hands to cross the parking lot. I’ve also seen it with my grandparents who met later in life (it was a second marriage for my Grandmother whose first husband, my Mom’s father, died in the coal mines), but most definitely married for love. My Grandfather had his hands full with my Grandmother (she was a spitfire and then some) and he loved her all the more for it. I don’t think there’s anything he wouldn’t have done for her.

And then I came across this article today, just in time for Valentine’s Day.  I’m sure the newspaper planned it that way on purpose. A feel good story for Valentine’s.  But truly, it is indeed inspiring.  For here are the stories of individuals whose love is so strong that it withstands all odds – for even when their better half is lost within themselves so deeply that they cannot remember the shared love, the lives intertwined, or even their own names – the devotion never wavers. Alzheimer’s Disease is a horrendous illness.  It invades your mind; it steals your memories. But the men profiled in this editorial are not willing to let go of their wives to the likes of Alzheimer’s, because while their spouses may not remember, they do.  If that’s not eternal love, I don’t know what is.

17 thoughts on “Eternal Love”

  1. Beautiful post, Wendy. It brought tears to my eyes. And I’m so relived to learn that I’m not the only one who loves Ava and Boyd! My perfect ending would be to see the two of them riding off into the sunset together!

    • Thanks, I’m glad you liked it. I’m hoping to find that kind of love myself one day. And yes, if the show doesn’t end with them together and happy somewhere, I’m going to be one very upset fan. I know they’ve had their ups and downs, especially last season (Boyd really let her down) but I do hope it ends well for them.

  2. I don’t know how I managed to get so lucky, but I’m celebrating my 33rd Valentine’s Day with the sweetest man in the world. We met when we were just 19, and we both just knew that it was meant to be (I know, I know, insert gagging noises here! 🙂 ). We’re like your parents, a little rough around the edges, but we wouldn’t know what to do without one another.

    And I agree, I will be deeply disappointed if they end the show in any other way. We need to see Ava and Boyd leaving, with Harlan in their rear view mirror, and throw in plenty of Boyd style explosions just for good measure! 😀

    • No gagging! I totally believe in people are “meant to be.” My parents married young and have weathered a lot (aka: tolerated). But I know how they each have looked when the other has been seriously ill and I think they’d be lost without each other.

      I wholeheartedly agree on the explosions! LOL 🙂

  4. Romantic love is one of the greatest creations of Western Civilization. It has “marry someone you’re not related to, have a dozen kids, then die by age 25” beat seven ways to Sunday!

    What I find so interesting is that so many folks these days get so sanctimonious about insisting that there’s ONE and ONLY ONE acceptable way to be in love and to share your entire life with that someone. If anyone finds that special someone for them, regardless of the details, grab it, hold on, and fight for it. Too many people settle for “good enough,” which isn’t.

    • There is never one and only one way to love someone. There is such a variety of people and personalities that of course there should be a variety of ways to love. And I agree wholeheartedly with you that if you find that special someone, you need to hold on and fight for it. And definitely never settle for ‘good enough’. That’s the way you slowly kill your soul I think.

  6. I’ve seen a very long lasting love, too, but I’d call it eternal respect mixed with love and patience. Romance is short lived and what holds two people together is really always something different because love can have all kinds of shades, as well. Unfortunately, I don’t have time for any shows and rarely get to watch TV, but it’s sad I cannot find anything good enough to watch during those hours when I could do it.

Comments are closed.