Day 183 of a Photo a Day: Roy and Eleanor

Roy and Eleanor are two of the most beautiful human beings I've ever known. Lucky for me, they're my grandparents.

The two of them lift each other up and allow one another to thrive and improve on a daily basis. When my grandmother smiles, she actually seems to light up a room. She's a social butterfly and keeps her friends feeling loved and appreciated, along with her family. My grampa is social to be sure, but he's a bit quieter as a rule. To get a bit nerdy for a second, he's like the Ents in The Lord of the Rings: he rarely says anything unless it is worth taking a long time to say.

So Eleanor gets to talk as much as she wants and Roy gets to take his time and listen. But really, it's more than that.

It's been 60 years since they said "I do" to each other. That's a lot of good times and some bad, too. Certainly, it's a lot of time that could have been spent with the wrong person. Instead, Roy spent days that he may otherwise have been sad and drained by life being lightened up by the brightest smile he's ever known. Instead, Eleanor spent days when she may otherwise have missed the beauty in small, wonderful details and moments getting to stop and appreciate them with the love of her life. This thing is full of clichés, but they really do seem to complete one another.

It's amazing to have these people to look up to as role models for a successful and happy partnership. I am in a really amazing relationship right now, but even a year is not always easy. Relationships have difficulties. They are incredible, rewarding, and magical, but they require patience, compromise, and understanding. It takes a lot of smarts to have a good one, and these two are a couple of smartie cookies.

Happy 60th anniversary, G&G.

Love you forever.

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