Part 4âââThe Stripes of Love Between Adanna and Macauleyđ
Love transcends! Love makes it beautiful. Love beholds beauty. Love is magical! And it can happen in any unexpected way!
I met Adanna and Macauleyâs family through a childhood friend. Though I knew both but was only privileged to meet Adanna since Macauley had passed away a few weeks earlier. And it was the death of Macauley that drew me to his beautiful wife, Adanna. They were married for 64 years! They were together for 67 years!
Meeting Adanna felt surreal like we had known each other from a past life! đŒ Adanna said it felt like an angel had entered her life and home! We got on well and immediately started chatting like long-lost friends reuniting! It was a magical moment in which two worlds met. Adanna brought out a family album to show. They met as teenagers when Macauley was in the military band. He was playing his drums when he spotted Adanna amongst other girls in the audience. His eyes quickly acknowledged hers, and he decided to get to know her. He took the bold but "staggered" step, like most teenagers, to approach Adanna, who didnât really play hard to get! They quickly jelled and became friends. Their first date was at a place where girls usually go to wait for guys in those daysđ.
Macauley wanted to know Adannaâs parents, which was a kind of taboo in those days! Adanna said with emphasis âOh in our time, you dare not, as a guy, make your way to the front of a girlâs parents and ask to see their daughter!" Be sure that either you will be thrown out or youâll receive a marching command by the girlâs father, to walk out of his house!âđ€Ł I rocked with laughters at this description and imagined how this drama would have enfolded.
But with all the boldness in the world, Macauley took this major step and faced his fate with Adannaâs parents. He arrived and was invited in by Adannaâs father. Macauley stood straight in his military style and greeted Adannaâs parents with utmost respect. Then he asked politely for Adanna âMay I please invite your daughter out to dinnerâ? He told Adanna later that he was petrified of her father and stood there praying for strength and bravery to be able to speak! đ Adannaâs father, having assessed him, called his daughter and asked âdo you know this boyâ? Adanna shyly, but with inner excitement said âyes fatherâ. Adannaâs father gave his ok for the young lovers to go out! He emphasised that they must be back at a specific time, to which Macauley sincerely kept.
Adanna and Macauley enjoyed their first date, became closer, very happy, and simply adored each other. Eventually, they got married, disregarding Adannaâs fatherâs scepticism. He had told his daughter in plain clear words âyou are both too young, the marriage will not lastâ! But for some reason, this soulmates joined together, made a whole. They were destined to be together. They disregarded their parentsâ fears and concerns and got married!
Adanna showed family photos. Her mother knew of Macauley through her grandmother, who owned a shop where Macauleyâs father worked. So grandma Edna remembered and told her daughter (Adannaâs mother) â âis this not Browenâs son?" Adanna laughed as she relayed how her family scrutinised everything to make sure she didnât make a mistake! She gave clues on how to love life to the fullest, from the perspective of an older person. She said âyes, there will be challenges, but we must not let them overwhelm us and diminish that true love within usâ.
Adanna talked about how their relationship and marriage faced challenges. She opened up that whenever they had arguments, Macauley would be overtly emotional whilst she would be quiet. She bottled up her annoyance but showed it in quirky body movements and in repetitive chores! I laughedđ . She excitedly explained that when annoyed, she would bring out the hoover and hoover the floor, whether it was clean or not! Her moves indicated she was furious with Macauley! đ€Ł
And she said âwith every pull of the hoover and every hoovering over a surface, I would be fiercely making emphasisâ. Adanna laughed heartily saying âwhenever I bring out the hoover, Macauley would say 'oh here she comes nowâ! She explained that in all their years together, they stayed very happy. Yes, they had arguments and quarrels, but they stayed very happy and never ever left each other!
A large, beautiful portrait of the couple in lovely outfits caught my attention. Macauley, in his sharp military uniform, whilst Adanna wore a beautiful cream colour frock with lovely gloves. Adanna explained that she fell in love with the dress and Macauley bought it for her. It became her wedding dress! đ Adanna admired and adored her husband, and one could see the childhood love still in her aged eyes. This was the same love that showed in those photos from when they met at age sixteen and eighteen.đđ
Adanna described her husband as âmy best friend and soulmateâ! She said, "Grace, I tell you, Macauley was a good man to me. He would buy me whatever I wanted. And even when we didnât have much, he would know that thing I really loved to have, and he would go and get it for me. He was a good manâ.
But life is transient, and death must happen at some stage in life. So Macauley, though reached a ripeful age of 82, inevitably passed on, having suffered dementia. But he was alive to see his children, grandchildren, and great grand-children! I was awed and moved to tears by this story. I felt honoured to be told a wonderful love story, having only known the family for a short time.
In all these love stories, I particularly enjoyed how these older couples shared their painful moments and their joyful ones with me. They showed me that true love does exist and that it can be found!𩔠However, one must endure, but you will know it when you feel the real thing!
Thank you for reading my stories on 'The Dimensions Of Love' from older couples' perspectives.
Love lifts us when nothing else would do! đ€
