curiously unique, slightly offbeat and yet heartwarming

When people grow old, they tend to become the way kids behave, demanding for attention, though less blatantly. But that's the way things seem to be. Just like my grandparents. They can squabble over every single little thing, and not speak to each other for an entire week, doing their own things and irritate the hell out of each other, just cos they know that the other doesn't like it. It puts me off at times, but over the years, we've all learnt how to let them squabble their heads off and we'll just laugh it off.

What just hit me over these couple of years, is how different relationships were in the past as compared to now. My grandparents have been married for over 50 years. Till date, despite the everyday squibbles and squabbles, the forever on-going cold wars, persistent jabs at each other, they're still going strong. Strong not in the sense they're still loving and all.

They sleep in separate rooms and all, but whatever they do, they will still think of each other. Like how my grandma will always grumble about stuff that she doesn't like doing for my grandpa whilst doing it. Like how my grandpa will always remind us to leave something unsweetened for grandma to eat (cos she has diabetes) while jokingly saying that this way, he can have all the sweet ones.

Just last month or so, my grandma fell down. Fractured her hand, not long after, there were metal bars all over the area she fell. My grandpa is a Do-It-Yourself kind of man. Fixed all the electrical stuff, made cabinets, grew plants, you name it, he fixed it, and he's STILL doing it. He fixed the metal bars so that IF she slips again, she'll have something to grab on for support.

It's such a heartwarming feeling to watch the both of them and they've stuck by each other all these years. I personally can't imagine being married for 50 years. Perhaps its the companionship they're treasuring. But I believe, they have never thought of leaving each other throughout the 50 over years, cos they have chosen to make the commitment to each other.

Relationships now, are made and broken with no qualms. If something goes wrong, one party probably bails out and looks for someone new. There isn't the commitment and loyalty to each other anymore. It's scary. But its a fact. It scares the hell out of me to make a commitment, half-knowing that when anything happens, the words of commitments are just....words.