The previous generation's marriages were mostly arranged by their parents and matchmakers. Sometimes, it's hard to understand how two people can get married without even meeting each other and still have a happy marriage, raising children together until old age. Grandpa and grandma are already too old to do anything significant. They often sit at home for hours on end. They watch the sunrise and sunset, waiting for their meals. They feel that they are too old to communicate with their children. When the family discusses something, they can't contribute much to the conversation. There are too many new things that they don't understand, and their speech has slowed down with age. They can only listen and not speak, gradually feeling lonely and realizing the importance of companionship.
The elderly couple often sits, one at the front door and the other in the main room, just a room's distance apart. Every ten minutes or so, there would be a voice from the front door: "Mom, do you want some water?" The voice from the main room would reply, "No, I don't want any, I'm not thirsty." Then there would be silence for a while. Grandpa is relatively more agile than grandma, so he can get up to pour her tea or fetch something for her. After a while, grandma would call out from behind, "Old man!" "Yes, what's the matter?" Grandpa would turn his head to see. Grandma would say, "It's nothing, I just called out to know where you went." Grandpa wouldn't respond and would turn his head back to continue sitting.
Sometimes, when grandpa is dozing off and doesn't hear, grandma would get worried and limp over to the front door to check on him, pushing him gently and saying, "Old man, I called you and you didn't even make a sound." Then she would turn back inside and say, "Go ahead and sleep, go ahead and sleep, I'll call you for dinner later."
These two old people, every day, they look at each other, big eyes staring at small eyes. Sometimes, they don't even say anything while sitting, but after a few minutes, you call out to me, and I call out to you. Grandma said that when they were young, grandpa never revolved around her like this, and they could go days without speaking to each other. They didn't argue or make noise, but they just felt that living under the same roof, not seeing each other when looking up or down, there was nothing to talk about. When grandma married into the family, she had never seen grandpa before, she only heard others say that he was honest and capable. After getting married, grandpa, who was already not very talkative, rarely spoke or joked with grandma. However, grandma never complained about grandpa. She felt that living together under the same roof was enough, and it was genuine.
Now, the elderly couple is older, but they care more about each other than before. Sometimes, when lying in bed, they can still exchange a few whispered words. If one of them is hard of hearing, the other is willing to raise their voice and repeat themselves until the other agrees.
At home, the two of them often revolve around the stove, talking about random things. Even when they are in the same room, they would ask, "Are you there?" The other would quickly respond, "Yes." It's this kind of simplicity and truthfulness, with a hint of reliance on each other, that still exists in the hearts of the elderly couple.
Watching them, I think to myself, don't they find it troublesome to call out to each other like this all the time? Grandpa smiles tolerantly and says, "If I call her and she responds, then I feel at ease." Grandma looks up at me and says, "When you reach our age, you can only sit like this, watching each other, and still feel at ease in your heart, my dear companion, even when we're old, we still want to be together."
It turns out that happiness is so simple: as long as you are here, I feel at ease. What does it matter if we have simple meals? What is there to worry about as we grow older? Just calling out and hearing each other's response, how reassuring it is in our hearts.