Soon thereafter, in a parallel universe a century or so ago, Germaine and Alphonse embarked on a love affair that would span the generations. There are older photos of them — it’s a sepia-toned couple shot, taken some 60 or 70 years ago, which still reveals the strength of the bond.
True love was Germaine’s smile and Alphonse’s look of love for her. It was respect, solidarity, and commitment to life; it was more than just an ephemeral flame of passion.
Their marriage lasted 66 years and they kept themselves together through all the love and hardship, staying beautifully rock-solid through the brightest and darkest moments of life. Their love became more intimate with each passing year as they went through either blossoming or dissolving.
The stories they had to tell! A lifetime of smiles and kisses and countless invaluable memories from their courtship to their children and grandchildren. They enjoyed one another’s company, they were best friends and confidantes, bound by life’s triumphs and tragedies.
However, before that extra spring, Friar Alphonse went out ‘on a last job, with a legacy that leaves everyone with whom he sired amiable intimacy still smiling’. And yet Friar Alphonse is not here anymore, yet, ‘and his soul survives solely in the brains of those he ‘took a shine to’.
Nevertheless, Germaine and Alphonse’s testimony continues to inspire hope and remains a poignant tribute to the triumph of their love, a testament to its epic power of agelessness, rendered timeless against a landscape of love that is ever-changing and in constant flux. A tribute to the pertinacity of true love, it crosses age and time to exist in a world of fleeting relationships.
I’m reminded of all that by their epic romance as I remember just how funny and loving they were together. It’s about appreciating the people that you care for, cherishing the time spent together, and never ever taking that love for granted.
In October 2020, it was Germaine’s turn, too, who, after taking a last farewell trip to visit Alphonse, whom she had joined in the great beyond she loved so well, went on her final trip to meet his spirit, fully and contentedly. Early that morning, when I saw her lying in the hospital bed where she was being lovingly surrounded by members of her family, I felt sad, and happy for her that we shared our days together.
The gift of their passing is that it reminds us that life is short and that we must, at every moment, honour those who hold our love and our happiness. To do otherwise would be to squander our memories of them. Let’s live each day in brotherhood and sisterhood, as Germaine once sang. Let’s live in love. And let’s welcome the gift we were bequeathed: the knowledge that, once our breath is gone and our ashes have blown away, love is that which we take with us.
It is terrible to witness their death, and their lives so tragically short reminds us that no day is too far away to tell our loved ones how much we care about them always. Let us therefore live each day with love, compassion, and love towards others so that they can know that we remember all of them and they should continue to live our memories once both of us are gone. Germaine and Alphonse remain a living testament that love is perhaps the best gift of all that will remain when we are gone.
Writing with gratitude