Although I feel like i've seen hundreds of relationships fail and end badly there are some amazing stories out there that remind me that many relationships really can last forever. This story in particular is close to my heart because it is my grandparent's story and I can still see the way they are together. I cannot even remember ever seeing them separate from each other.
My grandparents, James and Agatha Bortolotto grew up in a small neighborhood in Allentown Pennsylvania. Aggie and Jim were neighbors and grew up playing together. Aggie was only 7 years old and Jim 8. Aggie always had a crush on Jim and her mother loved Jim also because he used to help her with the cleaning and washing. The two wound up going to the same high school and when Aggie was a sophomore and Jim was a senior Aggie finally mustered up the courage to ask Jim to the Sadie Hawkins dance on a Friday night. They had such a great night that they began dating afterwards. Although Jim graduated and went to College, he saw Aggie all the time because Penn State was close to their neighborhood. Jim almost flunked out of his freshman year of college because he was spending so much time with Aggie and not enough time on his school work.
Jim's sophomore year he and Aggie decided to take a break because Aggie was a senior in high school and Jim was getting busy with his college music degree.
When Aggie graduated she got a job as a secretary at an elementary school. They lived separate lives for a year and Aggie wound up dating another guy for a very short time. When Jim graduated from Penn State with a music teaching degree he went to a dance at a nearby club and Aggie also happened to be there with all of her friends. Jim asked Aggie to dance and afterwards asked if she was dating anybody. When she said she was free, Jim asked her to be his girlfriend again and they continued to date until Jim finally proposed.
They literally did live happily ever after and still do. They have now been married for over 55 years and are still in love.
It seems like people get sick of each other so quickly nowadays. I've seen many couples who, after two years, fall out of love with the other person. How is it that my grandparents have not gotten sick of each other after 70 years but so many couples do after 2? I used to think that dating a large amount of people would help you get an idea of what you are looking for, but maybe dating less people helps you appreciate everything about the relationship you have. Rather than seeking the perfect relationship you MAKE the perfect relationship out of the only one you've ever known? Or maybe my grandparents succeeded because they grew up together and knew everything about each other before they married. It's interesting to think about.
