EPTSo today I saw something that really affected me in a good way; something you dont see very often. In this day and age people dont stay married for life very often, so every once in a while when I see an old couple thats been married for 50+ years or so it makes me kinda happy.
I was out on my front porch having a cigarette and I saw a very old couple taking a walk. This couple isn't a new sight to me, I see them a few times a week taking walks, their names are Bill and Doloras. I usually smile at them and say hello or good morning but today was a bit different, they had a man with them seeming to be teaching them techniques to walking around. He would pull garbage cans out of the street into their path, tell them when they were approaching a driveway curb, and he kept changing the way they held hands. I.E He would have Bill put his arm behind his back or raise his arm over his heart to move his wife out of the path of the object.
After watching them for about five minutes I asked what they were doing, my curiosity had definitely gotten the best of me. Apparently Doloras had "finally" gone blind. Turns out the man is a coach for people that have recently gone blind. He teaches them what to listen for in the enviroment around them and how to deal with their surroundings. Doloras has been losing her vision for the last five years or so little by little and she had awoken last week 100% blind. At first I felt bad for her, its sad to think that she will literally never see the light of day again, see a sunrise or a full moon, the stars at night or even pictures of her children and grandchildren. But for some reason the couple who I was having my first real conversation with did not seem sad, upset, or irked in anyway. Doloras opinion of it was and I quote, "Its just part of life and I'm not too conerned, Bill takes good care of me" a little smile brushed across her face as she said this and Bill leaned in to give her a kiss on the cheek.
This statement really got to me so I started asking them questions about their life which they happily answered. Bill and Doloras have been married since 1944, that's a whopping 67 years! They got married at the age of 16 in Iowa and have known each other literally since birth! Their mothers played cards together before they were born and eventually they went to the same school as children together. As Bill said to me, "It was love at first sight, which she doesn't have so much of anymore" he laughed his own joke and I did too. He continued to talk about their youth and told me the story of their first kiss. It was after school when they were 7 or 8 years old, and they were on their way home when bill abruptly leaned in and gave her a peck on the cheek. Doloras, shocked by the action slapped him and told him to never do it again! Obviously he did it again and eventually they started dating as they got older and eventually got married.
They are very cute and you can see it in their mannerisms and the way they hold hands and kiss and joke with each other that they are truely, in love. If there is a definition of a "Soul-Mate" in my opinion it is this adorable couple that has been married since World War 2 and dont just love each other but that are "In Love" which is saying something completely different.
My hat goes off to you Bill and Doloras! Congratulations and thank you for enlightening me to what real love actually is.
