Morbid Matrimony

The title, and ok the pictures and some of the content, of this post might seem a bit dark, but hey, it's still Halloween week! And at the heart, these stories are really about something very sweet- love that keeps two people together for their whole lives, and even beyond.

Really, this post is half Halloween, half Valentine's Day. So take your pick.

Gordon and Norma Yeager, image from here.

You may have recently heard of the Yeagers, an elderly couple who died this October in Iowa. At 90 and 94, Norma and Gordon had been married for 72 years, which in itself deserves to be headline news. After a car accident, the couple was taken to the emergency room where the prognosis was grim. When nothing more could be done to address their injuries, Norma and Gordon were placed in a room where they could lay side by side, and hold hands.

According to ABC News: "Gordon Yeager died at 3:38 p.m. He was no longer breathing, but the family was surprised by what his monitor showed. 'Someone in there said, 'Why, then, when we look at the monitor is the heart still beating?'" Sheets recalled. "The nurse said Dad was picking up Mom's heartbeat through Mom's hand.'"

Kind of freaky-beautiful, isn't it? Seems like something Tim Burton could make in to a creepy yet heartwarming film.

And just today, I read about this lovely couple.

Roman couple, from here.

The couple, believed to be farmers from North Italy, were buried sometime between the 5th and 6th century. Not only were the two Romans buried holding hands, but they were also placed with their faces turned to gaze at each other (archaeologists believe the man's head (on the left)

shifted after burial).

What makes these two exceptional stories so wonderful is how mundane they really are. How many couples can each of us identify who, despite their squabbles, would really love to spend eternity holding hands? What these two couples illustrate, to me, is how even though everything else may change, the best parts of humans - our love for one an other - endures the millenia. Awwww.

Love ya!