Weddingbee Blog

I know I’m a super-detailed person, just by nature (and if you read some of my past entries you can probably tell I’m sometimes painfully so), but lately, I’ve really felt that I need to take a step back from the nitty-gritty of wedding planning, breathe in deep, and appreciate the fact that we are really getting married. As the big day approaches, I think more and more about what it truly signifies, and I think of the people in my life whose marriages I admire.

One of my most cherished wedding daydreams involves a man other than my fiance: my grandfather. My grandfather is a hundred and one, and I don’t think any of us, including him, really expected him to be able to see one of his grandchildren marry. I can’t wait to greet him in my wedding dress, hold his hand, and take a picture with him. I know he won’t be able to see or hear much, as these senses have begun to deteriorate in the past few years, but I know that inside his active brain, he will be as proud as he was on the day he first held me as a baby, when my parents brought me home.

My grandparents’ relationship is the epitome of a lasting marriage. My grandfather has been on kidney dialysis for the past eleven years. Three times a week, he visits a dialysis center to have his blood cleaned via machine, a process which takes three hours per visit. Throughout his illness, my grandmother has never failed to be attentive and caring towards him,. She monitors his diet, accompanies him to the dialysis center, and teaches the rest of us how to deal with the illness and take care of him ourselves.

Though both of them have had bouts of serious health problems, their love for each other and their deeply-rooted friendship is still very evident as they interact. When I look at them, and think of all the history they’ve lived through together, I see an example for my husband-to-be and me to follow. Right now, at the brink of marriage, we are young and feel ready to take on the world together, but I also hope and pray that someday, when we’re less ambitious and our own bodies begin to fail us, we will still be committed to, love, and take care of each other.

Is there a couple in your life whom you see as an example for your marriage?