Setting the Example

On Monday, I asked my grandparents if they would be interested in doing a photoshoot with me. They said yes, but "probably not today because we need to get ready"! :-) So the next day, after Grandpa got a haircut and after I helped Grandma pick out an outfit, we went to Crabtree Park in Dundee and took a little stroll through the shady trees.

Grandpa, always the character. 

They really are the absolute sweetest. 

Hand in hand, going on 54 years of marriage. <3

My handsome grandpa: Walter Joyce

My beautiful Grandma: Arlis Joyce

We stopped by Dairy Queen on the way home. Grandma and Grandpa's very first date involved Grandpa spilling a chocolate milkshake on his lap! :-)

I love the way she looks at him, looks to him, even still. 

I asked them on the way home, "What's the best part about marriage?" Grandma thought about it for a minute and answered, "The give and take. You don't know everything, and he doesn't know everything, but together, you can figure a lot of stuff out!" <3 I then asked what the hardest part about marriage is. This time Grandma didn't even hesitate, but answered quickly with a grin "The give and take!" I'm sure they have both compromised so many times over the decades but I don't think for an instant that they remember what they've had to give up, only what they have learned, what they have gained. 

Grandma and Grandpa, thank you. Thank you for letting me take your portraits and more importantly, thank you for setting such a good example of what love is, of what marriage is. I can only hope and pray that I will be as lucky as you both are. XO