For me, my grandparents were the prime example of a healthy truly loving relationship.

Sometimes it was little things, like grandma saying ‘well, this food isn’t my favorite, but your grandpa loves it, so I try to make it for him a lot.’ Or my grandpa saying ‘well, I’m not too fond of shopping, but your grandma likes it when I come along to that store, so I’m going to take her there tomorrow.’

And sometimes it was the fond exasperation. ‘Your grandfather!’ (Dramatic sigh). And ‘Your grandmother!’ (Also dramatic sigh). It showed me people could disagree, even find each other exasperating sometimes, and still love and respect each other.

But what really taught little me wasn’t anything they said. It was when grandma got really sick, almost died. We went to visit her in the hospital, and grandpa was holding her hand, and the look in his eyes… I saw them that she was his world, the other half of his heart, and if she died, he would probably follow.

I promised myself then that I wouldn’t settle for anything less than a relationship like that.