Love is the answer.... what was the question?

Share

Wake at dawn with a winged heart and give thanks for another day of loving. - Kahlil Gibran

This morning I read the most beautiful story.A story so touching I felt compelled to write about it.

It is the amazing tale of a love story spanning seven decades. Imagine that, for a moment - a lifetime of love.

Here's an excerpt from the Mail online:

With just days left to live Vernon McAlister made his dying wish come true by renewing his wedding vows with Sue, his wife of 72 years.
 
After having a dream that his wife wanted to marry him again, Mr McAlister asked the nurses to help him stay alive a few more days so they could celebrate their 72nd anniversary together.

The couple - she is 87 and he is almost 93 - first met when they worked on Vernon's father’s farm in Central, a town in South Carolina. They married when he was 20 and she was 15.

'My father told me she would make a good wife,' he said.
'I couldn’t have imagined how right he was. She is just purely wonderful. She is a jewel.'

Two years ago Sue survived a battle with stomach cancer and credits her husband's support as crucial.
Mrs McAlister said: 'He has taken care of me my whole life.'

(Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1287185/Dying-man-renews-marriage-vows-purely-wonderful-wife-72-years-hospital-bed.html#ixzz0r7Gz9vVl)

What an amazing love story that is?

It reminds me of my great grandparents, who lived with my family when I was a little girl. They originated from Wales, but had moved away after the loss of there youngest son Emris who had drowned after falling overboard from a ship.
 
My  great grandmother couldn't bare to see the ships come into port afterward and so moved to London. There they set up a successful business, but sadly fire raised it to the ground,in those days they didn't have insurance as you would today, but thanks to the LOVE and the kindness of their community and neighbours they were helped to get back on their feet.

Always LOVE got them through.

As years went by and the generations expanded,in their later years they came to settle on the family small holding where I was born. At this point you may wonder why I'm telling this story....

The reason for telling their tale is this; as a child I have such beautiful memories of them wlaking together,talking together (InWelsh) and sitting side by side holding hands.
 
Theirs was a varied life, with its own tragedies, as I've mentioned, but throughout their deep LOVE for one another carried them through.Even in the twighlight of their years their LOVE was clearly abundant.
 
It was a lifetime of love.
 
In the space of their lives (From the late 1890's to the early 1970's) the World changed beyond all comprehension, from Billy the KId to the first man on the moon. Mind boggling to consider..... but throughout all of those decades,the one constant was LOVE.
 
Imagine a love so strong it could last a lifetime?

To this day, I am in awe of their love, commitment and faith in one another.

So when I read the article this morning about Mr and Mrs McAlister, it reminded me of my own ancestors, and the most important life lesson they have taught me, that I want to share with you now.............

That no matter what the question, LOVE is always the answer.

Until next time,
Make every moment count,
with LOVE  Lisa x


Keep love in your heart. A life without it is like a sunless garden when the flowers are dead. The consciousness of loving and being loved brings a warmth and richness to life that nothing else can bring.

- Oscar Wilde

Nanny & Key my great grandparents