We found out a few days ago that my beloved Grandpa Bob passed away. 
He was 88-years-old and a World War II veteran, so there were a lot of people who came from around the country to his funeral. I flew in first thing Friday morning and had literally to run out after the funeral was over in order to catch the last flight out Friday night. But in between it was so wonderful to see extended family, some who I haven’t seen in years, and wonderful to be able to hug each other and cry and remember Grandpa Bob. It was very, very touching to me especially and very poignant to see my grandmother.
She and my grandfather had been married for 67 years, and until this day I had never seen her cry - it must be such an adjustment for her. She and Grandpa Bob knew each other since the sixth grade, and what an incredible adjustment it must be to have known someone and have been a partner in life for probably 75 years or more and just suddenly not have him there everyday. I look at my grandmother and my grandfather and I see that they didn’t always have it easy. They went through financial strains. They went through the strain of being separated for years during World War II when my grandfather was flying extremely risky missions, over Nazi Germany. At times it’d be 17 bomber pilots going out on a mission, and he was sometimes one of the only people to come back alive.
I watched how grandma and grandpa handled their conflicts. Things weren’t always sweetness and light. Sometimes they had their issues, but they stuck with it, and prospered in their marriage for 67 years. What an incredible legacy to pass along to their children, like my mother and father who have now been together for coming on 43 years, and to pass along to the grandchildren such as me, and the great-grandchildren even is a wonderful example. As I go to the next marriage event that I do, I will be having them very much in mind