My grandparents have been together for 62 years. Sixty-two. Longer than I’ve even been alive three times over. And yet, for the past eight months, they’ve been living apart.
Grandpa needs specialized care, and there wasn’t a single affordable home that could take them both. So now, Grandma’s in a smaller facility across town, and every night, she sleeps alone for the first time in over six decades. She told me once, in a quiet moment, “It’s the loneliness that hurts more than anything.”
Every time we visit Grandpa, the first thing he asks is, “Where’s my little mouse?” That’s his nickname for her. And when she walks in, his whole face lights up like he’s seeing her for the first time again. But then visiting hours end. And she has to leave. And I have to help her out the door as he calls after her, “Stay just a little longer, little mouse.”
Yesterday, after Sunday church, I stopped by to see Grandpa, expecting the usual—him in his recliner, waiting for lunch, maybe watching some old Westerns. But when I got there, the nurses were acting strange. Too gentle. Too careful.
And then I saw Grandma sitting beside him, holding his hand like she’d never let go.
Something had changed.
I stepped closer, my heart pounding, but before I could ask, she looked up at me, eyes brimming. And she said six words that made my stomach drop.
“I don’t want to leave him.”
I didn’t know what to say.
I didn’t know what to do.
But I knew, right then and there, that nothing would ever be the same.
That night, I couldn’t sleep. The image of Grandma clutching Grandpa’s hand was burned into my mind. I thought about their wedding photo, the one that sat on their dresser for as long as I could remember. Two kids, practically, looking at each other like they had the whole world in front of them. And now, at the end of their journey, they were being forced apart by something as small and cruel as money.
The next morning, my mother and I sat in the kitchen, coffee growing cold between us.
“There has to be a way,” I said. “We can’t just accept this.”
My mom sighed. “We’ve tried everything, sweetheart. Moving them in with family, getting extra help at home, but he needs full-time medical care. And we just don’t have the money for a private facility that could take them both.”
That afternoon, after pacing the length of my apartment, I called the priest at our church. He’d known my grandparents for years, had even been the one to bless their marriage all those decades ago.
“I don’t know what to do,” I admitted, feeling foolish for even calling. “But this isn’t right. They shouldn’t have to live apart at the end of their lives.”
Father Dominic was quiet for a moment. Then he said, “Come to Sunday service. Let me see what we can do.”
That Sunday, after mass, Father Dominic stood before the congregation and told my grandparents’ story. I sat in the pew, gripping my mother’s hand, my heart hammering as he spoke about love, commitment, and the heartbreaking reality of financial constraints. And then, something incredible happened.
People started moving. A woman in the front row pulled out her checkbook. A retired nurse stood up and offered to volunteer her time. A man I barely recognized pledged a monthly donation. And before I even had time to process what was happening, Father Dominic turned to me and said, “We take care of our own.”
Over the next week, the church community came together like I had never seen before. Donations poured in—not just money, but furniture, medical supplies, even offers to help with daily care. Someone knew of a small assisted-living home that was willing to take them both at a reduced cost. It wasn’t a perfect solution, but it was enough.
The day we moved Grandma into Grandpa’s new room, I don’t think I’d ever seen her walk so fast. She didn’t even wait for me to set her bags down before she threw her arms around him, tears streaming down her face. And for the first time in months, I didn’t hear him call for his “little mouse.”
Because she was right there.
Love isn’t just about the big moments. It’s not just the wedding day or the anniversaries. It’s about the quiet sacrifices, the small acts of devotion, the determination to hold on when the world tries to pull you apart.