Life is so good! Most mornings Jacob woke with that statement on his mind. Of course, most mornings Jacob woke to the sight of his loving wife by his side. In the early light of the day Jacob could take in her beauty and sweetness as he watched her sleep. Rarely did she wake before him and the pleasure of watching her sleep was a joy that he cherished. It's sad that one doesn't completely appreciate such a gift until it's gone.
Jacob met Grace Alice Swanson when they were both 19. It was a crisp fall day in 1971 as he navigated the crowded hallways of Mason Hall on the University of Illinois. Classes had begun a month before but Jacob was still struggling with juggling his schedule of school, work and his responsibilities on the family farm. The pressure was weighing heavily on him as he kept his head down, pushing his way through the stream of students to Biology Lab.
Abruptly turning, Jacob slammed into a door jam, knocking the books from his arms as he stumbled. Looking up, he swore softly realizing he wasn't even in the right room. He heard a few light giggles before looking up to access the damage. A couple of freshmen girls stood on the other side of the room watching him. He felt his face redden as he stooped over to collect his things that were scattered over the floor.
"Here let me help you with that." She practically sang to him. Her voice was like singing to his ears, on that first day and for every day after.
Jacob glanced up and met the gaze of the most beautiful girl he had ever seen. His breath actually caught as he took her in. Her hair was chestnut brown and cut very short. Her pixie face was round and friendly with a huge grin and beautiful liquid brown eyes that sparkled at him from behind her glasses. He was mesmerized by the sight of her and believe it or not, fell in love with her immediately.
By the time he came to his senses and could begin to form a relatively intelligent sentence, she had gathered all of his things and stood in front of him with an amused look on her face. Quickly, Jacob snapped out of his self imposed trance and hopped to his feet.
Taking his belongings from her, he said, "Thank you. That was really clumsy of me. Sorry."
Her smile brightened as she extended her hand to him, "That's ok," she said in her melodic voice, "I can be pretty clumsy too."
"My name is Grace and you are?" She asked as she shook his hand.
"I'm Jacob and I'm really happy to meet you." Jacob replied, suddenly remembering his manners.
Thus began a love story that exceeds most love stories. Jacob and Grace quickly became inseparable and before long she was as in love with him as he was with her at their very first glance. They married the following summer, graduated from college two years later and moved to North Carolina after landing their first real jobs.
Buying a home followed and then the addition of children, first a son and then a daughter. For over 40 years they loved, laughed, enjoyed the good times and persevered through the challenges. Marriage was relatively easy when the union was so perfect and meant to be, was how they saw it. They often counseled young couples on how to build a great marriage and though they didn't consider any marriage to be perfect, they knew they were extremely fortunate to have one that was close.