First Love

I don’t know where their story began but they were such a beautiful couple. They had wrinkles and gray hair but his love for her never wavered. We saw them every day at McDonald’s. He would park the car, get out, walk around to her side and open the door, and then he would take her hand and they would walk to the door. You could see the love in his eyes. He just adored her. When they came back out he did the same thing as he did when they went in. He opened her door and helped her into the car, put her seat belt on, and closed her door.

This couple was the inspiration for an idea that came to me one day. I was going to crochet an old couple. I decided the man would be named Douglas and the woman would be named Maria. I started crocheting them and not long after I started I decided that I wanted to figure out a way to make them hold hands or make their arms interlock. It is hard to capture that moment that I witnessed at McDonald’s in a crochet project. I see in my mind how I want to make them but it is hard to come up with the exact look that I want. I also decided that they both would have glasses and matching outfits. I finished Douglas first and weaved in the ends and used Fiskars scissors to cut the left over yarn. I tried to put a magnet in the hands so that they could be holding hands but the yarn was too thick so I couldn’t get the magnets to work.

I bought a bench to sit them on. I thought it would be like the cover of a love story for them to be sitting on a park bench holding hands like the world was just standing still. They have their arms interlocking and she has her head on his shoulder. I imagine he treats her like a queen and she just adores him. He was born on March 15th, 1941. She was born on April 19th, 1941. They got married when they were twenty. This is their 60th wedding anniversary. They are wearing the same outfit that they wore on their first anniversary. He has on blue jeans and a white dress shirt with black suspenders and she has on a blue jean skirt and a white dress shirt. They went to the park for a date on their first wedding anniversary so they are at the park today to celebrate 60 years together. When they got back home they were surprised to find their ten children, fifteen grandchildren, thirteen great grandchildren, and five great great grandchildren at their house ready for a surprise party. They had dinner and cake and ice cream. They had a mountain of presents waiting in the living room. Maria was so shocked. She cried as her granddaughter started handing her gifts and telling her who they were from. They were both so thankful for such a beautiful day with family and friends, and for dinner and all of the gifts. After the party when everyone was preparing to leave, Maria’s great grandson pulled her aside and told her that he had asked his girlfriend to marry him. He told her that the wedding was going to be next year on this day, May 29th, and that he hoped his marriage would last as long as theirs had lasted. Big tears ran down her cheeks as she thought of the day she married the man that she loved that she had been able to spend so many precious years with. She prayed every day that her children and grandchildren would find the same happiness and they would have many long years together. What an awesome legacy they would be leaving for their family!!