A Love Like That...

I have been married for 3 years. Not a lot of time at all relatively speaking. My grandparents were married 60 years. A lifetime in any respect. Yesterday my grandfather died and no one will be able to tell anything different other than he died of a broken heart.


My grandmother died in January. The funeral was not sad because she was gone, it was sad because you could see the pain in his eyes. I remember that during her last few months, she fought to live. He was at her side at every moment. As a family, we were secretly angry that he would not let the doctors 'pull he plug' and let her go. It was quite a few weeks before I thought of how selfish it was of us to even ask him to make that choice. I think when he finally made the decision to pull the plug on her, he pulled it for himself too.

Eddie was 80 years old. To many, that would descibe an old man that was barely able to get around. He was unique. There is no other word for it. He wore his hair braided, drove a sportscar, had a legion of friends and was an avid bowler, a skill I surely do not possess. After my grandmother passed, I noticed that his once upright gait had become slow and his back bent more. He did not laugh like he used to, stayed in the house and did not care too much for company, which for the Cotton's was unheard of. The family threw a big party to celebrate his 80th birthday. He enjoyed himself, but we all knew something or rather someone was missing. I could see it in his eyes, and how he stood to the side of the group often and just stared. I guess when I think about it, I have been watching him slowly leave us for months.

Today, and for the rest of the week, I will be busy trying to console my aunts, uncles and Mommie. For them to loose both parents in such a short time is devastating.

Today and for the rest of the week, I will watch the roles in my family slowly change as my aunts and uncles and Mommie quickly become the new elders in my family.

Today and for the rest of the week, I will run around trying to handle business. This week I will start slowly becoming Mommie.

Today, I am still that little skinny girl that wants nothing more than to have her my grandparents back. I wonder if that makes me selfish? Deep in my heart I know that he is happy because they are together.

Today, they had to be together. It was impossible for them to be in two separate worlds. How many of us find a love like that?