congrats, dave and joyce: 60 years of love

I'm back from a wonderful and refreshing trip to eastern Europe! I walked along the Prague meridian in Prague for good luck, got a facial in the spa town of Karlovy Vary, shopped at Valentino in Vienna, was reminded of pure atrocities at Mathausen Labor Camp and took a cruise along the "not-so-blue" Danube in Budapest; but the thing I gained most from this trip was falling even further into an irrevocable, reach-for-the-stars kind of love. I've blogged numerous times about my relationship on my Tumblr, and how wonderful it is. I've been the happiest I've ever been over the past 10 months (is it really almost a year, already?) and this trip reconfirmed what I've known all along: how wonderful John is, and how badly I want to spend forever with him.

I just returned from my grandparent's (left) 60th anniversary luncheon (an extreme feat in this day and age) at Forepaugh's in Saint Paul and it couldn't have been more beautiful! Little tea lights with their wedding date and place engraved on them neatly lined tables, as well as little match boxes with "Dave and Joyce, married 60 years" printed in cursive. Vases of orchids and lilies centered the 14 tables and my grandmother's wedding dress and bridesmaid's gown that she hand made herself were on display in the corner.

My grandparents experienced a beautiful romance and lifetime together that I can only hope to emulate. She cut the his sandwiches diagonally, and he gave her a charm for her charm bracelet she received from him when they got married every year for Christmas. They had 3 successful, wonderful children and 2 grandchildren. They were "snowbirds" in Texas every winter. They slipped me money when my parents weren't looking and let me have an extra ice cream sandwich after my first. And now they're both 80+, and she can't see, and he has severe Parkinson's disease and can barely talk, but they still love each other and look after one another. After 60 years. I want that... more than anything.