Their 55-year Love Story

They met at a house party. She was there to dance. He was there to hang out with friends. He said that he saw her from across the room and they both liked the way each other danced. He asked for her number and she said yes.

She quickly learned he had a jealous side to him and wasn’t looking to start a life with someone who had such a short temper. He patiently waited 7 years before they finally married.

Weddings, quinceañeras, and family get-togethers were their favorite places to be together. Trips to the beach and as they got older, long drives to the casinos, made them the happiest.

Sure, like any couple, they had their ups and downs. Fortunately, I never saw my dad psychically harm my mom. I did see the stress he caused when he would accuse her of flirting. It made me not want to get involved with anyone long term. It’s not that they would be the jealous type. I found that I had that gene and didn’t want someone to look at me the way she looked at him in those moments.

They always made up. We loved watching them dance oldies. Those were his favorite songs to dance to. She had breast cancer in her early forties and an aneurism in her late sixties. A few months later, he suffered his last heart attack.

As he sat up in his hospital bed, she told him, “I was scared we wouldn’t make it to our 50th wedding anniversary this year.” He told her he loved her and she shouldn’t worry, they would get there. I was standing next to her at that moment. Sadly, he didn’t make it out of the hospital on his own as we had hoped and they never got to celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary together which was about one month after his death.

She goes to see him at least once a week, sometimes more if the weather, and her car, permit. She cleans his tombstone and brushes the leaves away. Her trunk is filled with water hoses, containers, and rakes. Her heart is filled with memories of a long lived love.