The tragic end of my Ideal couple's Love story

"One day this guy and his friend came near our house. His friend talked to my father and said: " I know him very well, he is a decent fellow and works in army. Poor fellow lost his parents in his childhood itself. He would like to marry your daughter." My father agreed to the alliance and we got married that year itself." She, in her seventies was blushing and smiling telling their story. Sitting on a chair not so far from us, he also smiled and nodded in agreement to her narration. The "how I met your grandpa" story came up when the delivery guy came to give the framed photo of their 60th wedding anniversary. They are my favourite and ideal couple I have ever seen in real life; my grandparents. Their life is the most beautiful imperfection perfected with love.

She said "he is so angry sometimes he wants things to be done immediately. If it was someone else to cop up with this anger she would have left by now" in front of him only and he agrees to it remembering last days plate throwing ceremony for the dish not salty enough. "You were not around when I fainted and fell down, I lied there for hours and you were not around" he complained and she told the story of how she found him on the floor when she was back from the backyard. But they could never be anywhere without each others company for a long time. He once told the how other girls were jealous of her hair and now that its all white. She recited the stationary items for the house and he wrote it down. They went to a famous Latin church in town every Tuesday and had lunch from their favourite restaurant. They even worked together in the kitchen, she made rice and curry while he lit the gas stove and cut onion and chillies in the right size.

Grandpa served in Indian army and my grandma handled the households. They travelled together all across India. Decided to settle in northern part of India but then changed that decision and came back to Kerala. He said once " you see there is no pooram and perunnal there (festivals uniquely celebrated in Kerala) and we would have missed out on all those fun if we settled there". There are few churches famous certain festivals and they never missed any such celebrations. They left home together and came back together. She watched the lighting on the church closely and fireworks from the verande. He went to be the part of the male crowd near the fireworks ground. They separated after the holy mass and united at a point after the celebrations. It was a routine that was been repeated for years, so they never missed each other and came home together.

He was her world and he made her his life. They shared everything with each other. They couldn't get peace till they talked to each other every single detail of an issue. My grandmom partially lost hearing and my grandpa is an asthma patient. That meant if you did something wrong and standing inside a 100m circle to the house, you get to hear every little detail of your mistake to how it made them feel. His weak lungs also didn't come in between their sharing, he talked as loud as he could and repeated until she caught everything correct. Aerocort is the one company that benefited from this crazy love.

They valued time more than everything. There is fixed timing for everything. A fixed proportion for everything. 6.30 she goes for mass, by the time she comes back he does his morning routine. They had breakfast together and did daily chores. Before lunch he came to kitchen and cut the onions, there is a fixed thickness that only he could do. That was a quality time they spend talking to each other, planning things, gossiping about others and the topics of their conversation is vast. He ate rice for lunch and chappati for dinner. They both had their own plates. He had one with 3 wells in it when her plate was deep round with round edges. The quantity of the food was fixed too. I never saw him eating more than two and half chappati at night. The half of the chappati was for her. They had one glass of milk every night in two identical glasses.

They came to our houses for every fests and celebrations. We gathered in grandparents' house for every Onam, Christmas, Easter and whenever we got free time. It was fun to surprise them in the middle of the day entering through the backdoor. She had this unique smile that one will never forget if they had met her even once. She was sweet inside out. But they could only sleep in their own peacefully knowing their pride possessions are safe. If they visited our place they hardly stayed back. They always went back to their paradise they built for them.

He is an asthma patient and there had been many incidents where he scared everyone with his difficulty in breathing. And that is the reason why she never went far from his side for a long time. In their eighties they were healthier than most of their grandchildren and children. They walked as far as they could, they cleared the grass in the surroundings and kept themselves busy through out the day. They never had to be in hospitals for a long time. The doctor who consulted both of them prescribed medicines time to time and they took it with great care. Lately my grandmom had a laser surgery for cataract and when the doctor asked how her vision is post surgery she replied; "I can see things clear but it is still difficult to read small letters doc". The doctor not even half her age laughed and prescribed spectacles. They never liked sit or oversleep, such was their lifestyle.

Fast forward to 2017, he is 92 and she is 83 and everything is going smoothly. In 2016 my grandmom had a rise in her sugar level and then controlled with diet. She didn't have to take insulin or other medicine. My grandfather kept reminding us that he is now in his 90s and how grateful he is to live these many years. We celebrated their wedding anniversary and every other occasions. I was working in another part of India and got an unexpected call from mom. Grandma is taken to hospital and got admitted in ICU. I was shocked because she was perfectly well for her age. I would not have been surprised if it was my grandfather. They said it was a heart attack. Her heart is failing and there is nothing much to do at this age. They kept her in ICU for a week. She crossed the critical stage and came back home. Both my grandfather didn't take it that seriously and thought it was just a normal hospital case.

Months passed by and everything went back to normal for them. My father started to live with them since they both need a careful watch. I was home for the week and there was another episode of heart attack and she was taken to hospital. This time she was taken into another ICU where no one could enter. But she fought well and came back home. But the person who came back had changed. She screamed most of the time. She was scared if she will be left all alone. She kept calling for my grandpa all the time. In pain, in hunger, to go to bathroom she called him first and told him that. Both their coats are parallel and she looked to the other bed to make sure he is there. She sometimes talked about things that are not related. Cried like a baby for sweets after medicine and if she didn't get it from us, complained to my grandpa about it.

He started to ignore the screams after a point. It was really annoying if you stay an entire day in the same room. He sometimes woke up from sleep because of it. Doctors said it is because of the sodium levels but the sweet person we know had become a different person. Everyone who knew her saw her in this condition had their eyes wet immediately. Then again everyone got used to that reality. Sometimes she woke up in the middle of the night and cried saying we didn't feed grandpa. She reached out to his bed for his hand and stayed calm for sometime holding it. Sometimes she tried to drag him. He got annoyed at some point and started to ignore the call. Sometimes we watched all of these from a distance. So when she screamed he came and told us to check what she needs. I felt he is mean to ignore her. But he was not in his best either and if she dragged him he'll fall down. One day I saw him caress her face and making an action with hand that meant "what are you screaming for?". That gesture melted my heart and wronged my thoughts about him being ignorant. It was his helplessness.

One day my father went outside for urgent job and I was left alone with grandmom. She already had a heavy breathing problem and we knew it coming. But my grandfather didn't. They both had breakfast that morning and my grandfather was up for lunch. I served him lunch and came continue to sit beside her. She was not opening her eyes but that felt normal. I told her my grandfather is having lunch and touched a drop of that days curry on her tongue and said this is what is for lunch. After half an hour or so her eyes went up all of a sudden and I screamed. My grandfather didn't understand anything. He thought we are all there calling doctor just like other times. Her funeral was the next day and I saw him kissing her on the cheek and saying "hmm, the last sight before she is gone". He seemed fine that day. He talked to everyone. He ate food also.

The next day it slowly started to sink in. He looked around in the morning and there was no coat beside him. Nobody screamed and the house was silent. He didn't have an appetite. When he sat on the table breakfast I saw his eyes welled up for the first time. He said he don't want to eat. He said "Nobody went to church to bring her back?" "how can I eat when she is lying their in the soil? It's raining". The next few days were the hardest. His health became very weak. His face changed suddenly and recognisably. He was caught in deep thinking and staring at the walls and surroundings. He started to need help to walk. One night he didn't sleep and used up many aerocort pills to ease breathing. We really got scared. I really wished he didn't have to suffer this pain.

Sitting in that same house now feels different. My grandfather has gotten better now. He asked me to mark on July 12th on the Calender. He is better now but he is lost on thoughts almost all the time and he is not interested in anything anymore. Most of the times he is found staring at the walls and somewhere.

I told you, She was his life and now he is living lifeless. He was her world and she left the world leaving her world alone to live with her memories.