They were married for more than six decades.
It wasn’t perfect, but it was pretty good.
They had been devoted to one another longer than any two other people I knew.
My grandmother had passed three years before and now Grandpa was fading. It felt like there was less of him each time I saw him.
I told him I wanted to make his portrait. Somehow I needed to mark this stage in his journey. He didn’t try to talk me out of it and seemed to know just what to do. He didn’t smile and I didn’t ask.
He understood that the empty chair was for my grandmother.
It had been hers.
As I get older, my turn to fade away fast approaching, I remember so many ancestors I knew who have already left. If my calendar marked them all, those anniversaries, every month would have numerous entries. I ask the assembled ancestors in the early hours of the morning. I visualize them together in the sky above me. I ask them, "How would you have me remember you?" The answer is always the same. "You need not- save that we loved and departed without regret. Do you likewise.". I blow out the candles and leave.
Didn't expect tears today, but grateful for the love this made me feel. Beautiful. Just beautiful.