Sex & Relationships
Granddaughter captures the powerful last moments of grandparents’ 60-year love story
"Watching the way he loved her is such an incredible reminder to choose wisely. Choose someone who will still be your absolute best friend 60 years down the road. Who will still be holding your hand during the best of times, but most importantly during the worst of times."
D.G. Sciortino
09.02.22

Some might see these photos as sad.

Others may instead relish in the fact that they are a testimony to a very strong love that existed on Earth.

Emily Hime, who is the granddaughter, of the couple in the photos says it is a snapshot of “something beautiful.” The beauty of unconditional love.

The viral photos of her grandparents embracing as her grandmother lies in her hospice bed were posted on Chathan-Kent Hospice’s Facebook page as “a special message of love.”

The photos were posted along with a post written by Hime.

“During the last few months of my Grandma’s life I was blessed to witness something beautiful. And that was the unconditional love between my grandparents,” Hime wrote.

Hime’s family used to joke about grandpa not being able to survive without grandma since she did everything for him.

But those roles reversed toward the end of her life.

It was a big adjustment for grandpa. He had to learn how to regularly do things that he hadn’t done before.

“Through this, I have realized that the most romantic love story isn’t Romeo and Juliet.. but it’s grandma and grandpa who grew old together. It’s grandpa sticking by grandma’s side during the most difficult period of her life,” Hime wrote.

2023852 - Pixabay
Source:
2023852 - Pixabay

Grandpa did laundry, cooked, held his wife’s hand through chemotherapy, and went to every doctor’s appointment with her so she wouldn’t have to go alone.

“It’s the staff at the hospital awing over his devotion and saying how everyone loved watching them together, including people sitting in the waiting rooms,” Hime wrote. “It’s him being by her side every single day while she was hospitalized and every day while she remained in hospice.”

The American Cancer Society describes hospice as a special kind of care that focuses on the quality of life for those with “advanced, life-limiting illness,” as well as their caregivers.

Grandpa thought that his wife was coming home at one point and asked his granddaughter to help him make signs so they could decorate the house.

When she didn’t come home, he was by her side rubbing her face and kissing her forehead.

“She’s more beautiful than ever. Doesn’t she look so pretty?” he would say.

He told her how beautiful she was every single day.

He would tear up every time he thought that she might be uncomfortable.

Ylanite - Pixabay
Source:
Ylanite - Pixabay

He couldn’t bear the thought of her being in pain but he still never left her side.

“They had that kind of forever love, the love we all aspire for. They would have been married 60 years next month, and yet, 60 years still wouldn’t have been enough,” Hime wrote.

Peggy_Marco - Pixabay
Source:
Peggy_Marco - Pixabay

Grandma and grandpa met at a cycling club in England when they were in their 20s.

That love grew stronger every day over those 60 years.

“Watching the way he loved her is such an incredible reminder to choose wisely. Choose someone who will still be your absolute best friend 60 years down the road. Who will still be holding your hand during the best of times, but most importantly during the worst of times. Someone who isn’t embarrassed or shy to express their love. Who proudly says “she’s the most beautiful thing and I love her so much” in a room full of people. That’s love,” Hime wrote.

Check out Hime’s original post below.

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