for grandpa

and
in memory of grandma
(February 26, 1917 - April 4, 2004)

There was a time
long forgotten,
long before I ever was,
when life-paths
were never interwoven,
when you and her
were never 'us',
roads criss-crossing,
intersecting,
but never merging,
never weaving into one,

'til you two fell in love.

60 years
together
and in that time
a world was born
between you,
children given, some
taken back before
their time,
nurturing a family
that almost wasn't
when war nearly ended
your new beginning,
then settling in
a foreign land,
a home away from home,
all the while
making a million memories
together

because you two loved.

60 years
of stories
your granddaughter
never knew.

And now
after
60 years
together,
you and her
are as you began:
apart.

60 years...

I watch in awe,
knowing that even though
half of you is gone,

you still love.