Elizabeth

My grandmother passed away tonight. She was 91 years old and had lived a full, rich life. Together with my grandfather, my grandmother raised 5 children and 10 grandchildren. She traveled the world when it wasn't exactly fashionable for people - let alone women - to do so. She was born in India and inspired her grandkids with stories of road trips from London to India, cruises on sail boats from California to Peru, and car rides through Afghanistan.

That said, I think the element of my grandmother's life that left me most in awe was the profound love she shared with my grandfather. Anyone lucky enough to be in a room with the two of them quickly discovered that they were with kindred spirits. True, their relationship began in a different era, when divorce and separation were unheard of. But my grandparents' love for one another went beyond the comforts of sharing stories and raising children. They genuinely enjoyed one another's company. They kept each other laughing, served one another, honored one another, amused one another, even after death. My grandfather passed away in 2002, but I don't think I heard my grandmother say more than three sentences without bringing him up. Being with my grandmother meant spending time with my grandfather, and vice versa. The two of them were uniquely paired, clearly divinely created for one another.

When my grandmother died tonight, I was cooking dinner for my husband. I was imagining how happy my grandfather would be to have my grandmother with him again. I was thinking about their treasured memories that none of us will ever know - the times they shared, like Michael and I share now, that aren't recorded by children or friends or neighbors. Times that passed between the two of them that nobody else could alter.

I cherish those moments that I share with my husband now, and feel like my marriage is the greatest way of honoring my grandparents' memories. I think if they could see the ways my husband and I are with one another now, when it is just the two of us, before we become ever-expanding units with children, then grandchildren, then greats, they would be pleased. They would recognize these times are tributes to them, and be proud of the legacy they have left behind.