For the past 8 months or so, I have been in a relationship with a wonderful man by the name of Ghanashyam. He has met my parents and sister, and I've met his parents, siblings, and extended family in the US. The other day, he told me that his grandparents wanted to meet me.
So we hopped on a train to go meet them in New Jersey.
Ghanashyam's grandparents have been married for 69 years.
Sixty-nine years.
I don't think I have ever met anyone who has been married for 69 years.
Sometimes when people say that "we'll be married forever" it almost seems like too long. I can't wrap my brain around forever.
But I can wrap my brain around 69 years because I witnessed it the other day. I witnessed two people at the age of 91 who have love, respect, and affection for each other.
I asked Ghanashyam's grandma the secret for such a long, healthy marriage. She replied, "Patience. Lots of patience." I wonder what this means because it can mean so many things. I'll stay in this question.
I asked Ghanashyam's grandpa the secret for such a long, healthy marriage. He replied, "We like each other."
I found that profound. These two people simply like each other. They like each other's company, each other's sense of humor, each other's rhythms. Loving someone can be a little fickle, but liking someone seems to be a steady truth.
I walked away from our lovely afternoon quite pensive. One day the grandfather or grandmother will pass away. It's hard to imagine being married for 69 years, but it's harder to imagine being married for 69 years and then one day that person is gone. So many journeys, so many lessons of love - so much so that the souls seemed to have intertwined.
Then bam, gone.
I feel a cavernous hole in my chest just to think about it.
I resolve that along with cultivating my relationship with my partner in life I want to cultivate my relationship with God, with Krishna. Allow the three of us to intertwine. We'll be patient with each other. We'll like each other. We'll love each other.
Then whether my partner and I are married for 69 years or 69 hours before death comes for one or both of us, there is no cavernous hole of sorrow but an overflowing cup of joy. I pray that we may be carried beyond these material bodies by the Lord to a place where love never ends.
1 comment:
Thank you for such a sweet and thoughtful post. When we contemplate our inevitable separation from the one we love in this life and feel the anticipation of separation in our heart even while we're still with the one we love, we get a visceral sense of love in separation: our relationship with our partner becomes a form of practice for our relationship with Krishna. And as we help bring our beloved closer to such feelings for Krishna through our feelings for one another, we give each other the gift of proximity to Krishna through feelings of separation; the greatest gift that one can give one's beloved. As our love for Krishna increases by virtue of this great gift that we perpetually exchange with our partner, our love for our partner simultaneously increases. Therefore intimate personal relationships expressed through marriage in Krishna consciousness can take us to the highest levels of love for both Krishna and our partner. It's a beautiful thing.
Post a Comment