Forever Love

Grandma & Grandpa

Sixty years ago today Edwin Joy and Patricia Adams said I do and spent the next near 58 years building their lives together. With five kids (four boys aged 7, 9, 11 & 13 and a girl 2) in tow they boarded a boat in England and came to Australia where daughter number two was born seven years later. Here they established new roots and until the day they died they lived in the same house my dad grew up in and that numerous dogs throughout the years called home. Six kids have since grown to include nineteen grandchildren and one great grandchild.

My grandparents may not have been big on leaving the house, you had to visit them for the most part, but family was incredibly important to them. There was never a shortage of love at their house and regardless of the growing number of grandchildren ranging in age from myself at thirty (in 5 days) to four when Grandma died and seven months when Grandpa died they never seemed out of their comfort zone interacting with any of us. Family was in their blood; it came so naturally to them.

After nearly 58 years of marriage my Grandma passed away from cancer in 2011. Grandma was someone who I cannot remember being sick a day in my life, whom we all thought would be someone who saw 100, and one of the strongest women I’ve known so her diagnosis was a massive shock to everyone. One of the first things Grandma said after she was diagnosed was that she’d see Grandpa’s next birthday but not hers. She died six days after his birthday and six days before her own, living more approximately six months past doctor’s expectations. When she was nearing the end Grandpa told her that he would be joining her soon. After she died he stopped taking his medication and barely ate, but somehow his body managed to hold out just over three years when his heart and soul for all intents and purposes had died with Grandma. His wish was to be buried so the urn holding Grandma’s ashes was buried with him – together forever. I believe two things when it come to my grandparents’ passing: that through sheer determination Grandma kept her promise to see Grandpa’s next birthday and that Grandpa died of a broken heart. Theirs is a true love story and one I truly admire and am honoured to have witnessed.