Joe and I have been married for 56 years, and if I’ve learned anything, it’s that love isn’t just about grand gestures, it’s about showing up every day, through laughter, struggles, and everything in between. It’s about patience, tolerance, and talking through the hard stuff. That’s what keeps a love like ours strong.
I came to America from Scotland in 1967, full of hope and very little understanding of freezing rain. I learned that the hard way when I slipped on ice and broke my shoulder. The next day, I showed up to work with my arm in a sling and that’s when Joe walked into my life. I whispered to my coworker, “I’m going to marry him someday.” She laughed, thinking I was joking, but I wasn’t. Somehow, I just knew.
Joe went away for six weeks of training, but we kept in touch. When he came back, he asked me out. Our first date was a walk through Valley Forge State Park and a little something to eat. By August, he proposed. Then the following June, we were married. Just 15 months after that first glance across the office, we had promised each other forever.
Over the years, we built a life full of love, laughter, and family. Three daughters, three son-in-laws, eight grandchildren. Now, with marriages and even great-grandchildren beginning, our family circle keeps growing. Holidays are loud and full of warmth. Trips took us from Scotland to Alaska to Hawaii, always surrounded by family. I’ll never forget traveling with all seven grandchildren at once, including three born within six weeks of each other. We called them the triplets. Our hands were full, but our hearts were even fuller.
Then life threw us another challenge: Joe’s health began to decline. In 2019, his hand started acting strangely, and soon he had trouble moving his leg. One day, he fell on the lawn, and I had to help him up. Eventually, after tests and visits to doctors, we learned something else too, one of Joe’s kidneys was full of cancer. Thankfully, it had not spread, and because of all the testing, it was caught early. We were lucky, considering everything else.
Not long after, Joe was diagnosed with ALS. The disease slowly took away his ability to walk and move his left side. Everyday tasks became nearly impossible. I struggled to lift him, to get him into bed, to make life manageable. But even in the hardest moments, our love never wavered.
Every morning, Joe greets me with a song in his head. I ask how he’s doing. “I’m great now that you’re here,” he says. Every night ends with kisses, “I love you,” and gentle reminders to call each other if needed.
Sometimes he worries about what this journey has cost me. I tell him, “That’s why God put us together, for better, for worse. In sickness and in health.” And I mean it, because love isn’t just about the easy days. It’s about holding each other through the hardest ones.
Looking back, from that day I whispered to my friend in the office to today, I see the thread that’s held us together: a love that never lets go. We tell each other every day how much we love each other, and I know it will never stop. That love, steady, enduring, unshakable, has carried us through 56 years of life together.
Because that’s what marriage is. That’s what love is. And that’s what Joe and I share: a love that never lets go.