Once upon a time, in a chapter of my life filled with broken relationships and shattered dreams, I had all but given up on love. It felt like an elusive mirage, shimmering on the horizon but forever out of reach. But then, life took a turn that I could never have expected.

My beloved grandmother, the source of wisdom and warmth in my life, was faced with a situation that shook our family to its core. She was to be placed in a nursing home, her time with us estimated in mere weeks. My heart ached at the thought of losing her, and I couldn’t bear the idea of letting her go.

As I began visiting her in the nursing home, I noticed a beautiful nurse who radiated kindness and care. She had the kind of presence that made my heart race in a way I’d never felt before. Years earlier, I had asked my grandmother a question that was heavy on my heart: “How do you know when you’re in love?” Her response, wrapped in the warmth of her wisdom, was etched into my memory: “You will know that you know that you know when you are in love. It’s hard to describe, but you will know it.”

When I saw that nurse, the woman who stirred feelings within me that I’d never experienced, I knew with unwavering certainty that I had found love. In her presence, my grandmother’s words resonated with me like never before.

I watched her, captivated by her grace and the soothing timbre of her voice, as she tended to my grandmother’s needs. Desperate to learn more about her, I checked her left hand for a ring, but the rubber gloves concealed the answer I sought.

A few days later, fate stepped in. During one of my visits, my grandmother handed me a piece of paper with a phone number and a name scrawled upon it – “Penny.” I hadn’t known the beautiful nurse’s name, but destiny had intervened. The name on that paper, it turned out, belonged to the enchanting nurse who had captured my heart.

With the courage of someone who had been through a multitude of heartbreaks, I reached out to Penny. Love blossomed, and against all odds, we embarked on a journey together. We faced life’s challenges hand in hand and shared its joys and sorrows. The connection I felt with her was beyond any I’d ever known.

Today, I can proudly say that Penny and I have been married for over twenty years. Love found me when I least expected it, proving my grandmother’s words to be true: “You will know that you know that you know when you are in love.”

But there’s one more incredible twist to this story. My grandmother, who was initially given just weeks to live, defied all odds. She continued to be a part of my life for five more beautiful years. She was not only present at our wedding, beaming with joy, but she also got to meet and love our children, offering them the same wisdom and warmth that she’d shared with me.

In the end, it was the love of a caring nurse named Penny that rekindled my faith in love, and it was the love of my resilient grandmother that made it all possible. This is a story of love, resilience, and the unexpected turns that life can take when you least expect it.

—Josh Mullins—

The Gladiator’s Mask: Hiding The Face of Hurt https://a.co/d/1uVxXLs