"Long Lasting Love"

They are a couple who have been together a long time. I don't know exactly how long but I would guess they have been married for forty years or more. They have been married as long as I have known them and that has been over twenty years. Russell and Rachel are two people who look like they belong together. Don't ask me to explain that, it is just how they look to me.

When I first met them I noticed they complimented each other. He would say something silly and she would make it sound logical. Or she would say something pretentious and he would add to it and bring it down to earth. They were a perfect match, a perfect fit. I thought they were a sweet couple back then. I didn't give their relationship any more depth than that.

But then several years ago Russell got sick. He had liver cancer and took radiation and chemotherapy. Rachel was there beside him and took care of him in every way he needed. She told me one day she was going to love him into being healthy. And it worked. He seemed to have beaten it.

A few years later she began to have trouble with arthritis and then she fell and broke her hip. Things got complicated and it took her forever to mend. But whatever she needed Russell was there to provide. He was a constant cheerleader and nurse. And he did this even though he was aware his cancer had returned. I heard about it and asked if he had started treatments again. He replied that he hadn't, and then he added that he would start when Rachel got well.

Rachel is better now, though still a little shaky. And Russell has started chemo and radiation again. I think that is what they are doing but I am not sure. I just know he is being treated. He is still up and about and has a positive attitude. And so does she.

I remember the first time I fell in love, or thought it was love. I was convinced there was nothing better than this way that I felt. It was perfect to be young and in love. It was the ultimate, or so I thought. But now I look at Russell and Rachel. They have been to hell and back and they are still in love. They are still tender with each other; they still compliment each other; they still love each other.

Maybe I realize through them that sometimes love is wasted on the very young. Love at an early age can be transient, fickle, and not very long lasting. It is the love that has gone through the fire that is the most important. That is the kind of love we should all seek. I don't know if it happens that often but it is certainly the goal to which we should all aspire.

Life can be rough. Life can be treacherous. Life can be scary. But if we have a partner, a mate, a soul mate then all the things that life throws at us can be absorbed. That is the lesson Russell and Rachel have taught me. They taught me by living it in my presence.

 

 

 

 

 

©2006 Jackie K. Cooper

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