Never get too old to hold hands

Arnold & Hazel Morelan

Married February 17, 1920

Arnold and Hazel were high school sweethearts. Known for their busy, loving hands, they "retired" by opening up a gift shop where Arnold cast concrete yard ornaments and Hazel stitched handmade quilts and dolls.

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It starts with a tiny fist wrapped around a mother's finger. It continues with a young hand held gently in one much larger. It endures through puppy love, adolescent relationships, and courtship. And if we are wise, it extends into marriage, through middle age, beyond the golden years, to the very end of life.

Holding hands is one of the most intimate expressions of love between two human beings.

Don't ever let this beautiful act slip away from you. It's so much more than a gesture of affection, so much greater than a mere symbol of connection. It's an incredibly meaningful communication, a deep connection in and of itself. It requires no words; in fact, no words can convey such a profound message.

Why would two people ever stop holding hands? Perhaps it seems silly, somehow undignified, when we're older and have been married a long time. We may begin to think such things were meant only for young lovers and newlyweds. That's far from true! Besides its many other purposes, holding hands helps satisfy the basic human need for physical touch, a need we never outgrow.

Hold your spouse's hand throughout your life together; don't ever let it go until the day when you've fulfilled every marriage vow and finally release it from your grasp, placing it lovingly, trustingly, into the hand of God.

I am always with you; you hold me by my right hand.

You guide me with your counsel,

and afterward you will take me into glory.

Psalm 73:23-24