Some of the most beautiful love isn’t found by two people. It’s inherited from generations who came before them.

Elizabeth’s grandparents, Rosemary and Frank, were that Greatest Generation.

Frank was just a young man on June 6, 1944 (D-Day) when he jumped out of a plane and parachuted behind enemy lines with the 101st Airborne Division as part of Operation Overlord –– the allied invasion of Normandy, France, that dealt Adolf Hitler his first significant defeat on the Western European front. If you’ve seen the movie “Saving Private Ryan,” you have a window into the unbelievable horror Frank experienced that day, as well as the incredible courage he (and so many  young American men) displayed. After they stormed Normandy, Frank and his fellow soldiers marched their way through France, fighting the Nazis in the fields and in the streets. Freeing city after city and town after town, ultimately reaching a concentration camp and liberating it, too. Like many soldiers who survive the hell of war, Frank doesn’t like to talk about what he saw and who he lost. What he does like to talk about (and what brings a big smile to his face) is who he met when he got home.

After the war, Frank boarded a train to go back to college. That’s when he saw a woman who took his breath away. It was Rosemary. They started talking and never stopped. “It was a choo-choo ride that lasted 73 years,” the now 100-year-old Frank says, thinking back on the love of his life, their five years of dating, six children and 68 years of marriage. It was a love story seemingly only Hollywood could script… except it was real. And the most beautiful part is that Frank was there to see the story continue. To watch the next chapter unfold. To witness his and Rosemary’s legacy of love safeguarded for the future. To see it live on through Elizabeth and Nick. To taste the sweet fruit of generational love. May we all be so fortunate to love like Rosemary and Frank, and blessed to live long enough to see our own grandchildren not just live, but find that love for themselves.

Elizabeth and Nick, thank you, from the bottom of our heart, for trusting us to document and preserve the next chapter in your family’s epic love story. We treasured our time with you (and with Frank. What a legend. Jordan wants to be Frank when he grows up.) Our only regret is that we didn’t get the privilege of meeting your grandmother, his dear Rosemary. Although, through getting to know you, Elizabeth, we feel like we got a beautiful window into who she was. You reflect her warmth and goodness in everything you do. You and Nick have done them both so proud. We were honored to be even a small part of it. Thank you again. We love you both, and pray that 68 years from now, you’ll get to see your grandchildren carry the torch that Rosemary and Frank lit for you.