Desi and Lucille: Old Age, Sweet Still

I know we all fancy pictures of Desi Arnaz and Lucille Ball being young, handsome and lovely. It broke our hearts that they filed for divorce, didn't it?

It's natural to think that love dissipates after divorce, and that things would never be the same again. I often stay up late, wondering how Lucy and Desi could bear the separation, how much they thought of each other a day, and how much they regretted doing the things they did. I mean, you can't just erase someone who has been sleeping beside you for 19 years out of your life. It was kind of disillusioning for fans of I Love Lucy to have to bear the pain of Desi and Lucy's divorce.

However, I've always read from everywhere that neither of them ever got over each other, and they both remained as the greatest and only love of each other. It got me into thinking about the whole deal of marriage and love. I realized that marriage isn't a legal binding, but a union of the hearts. And when you're so consumed  in love, you're so crazy and irrational, you just can't bear being with your soul mate anymore, and a little bit of distance helps.

Lucy admitted that she loved Desi so much that it hurt, but she never really liked him. Desi felt the same way about her too. But after the divorce, they finally became friends, and best friends thereafter. It was then they both started to like each other on top of that passionate love.

They phoned each other every night of their lives, Desi often cried to his friends how sad he was that they had divorced, and Lucille never trusted anyone but Desi. On important dates like Lucille's birthday, their children's birthdays, or their wedding anniversary, Desi would send a huge bouquet of carnations (Lucille's favorite) to her.

It is indeed reassuring to know all these, but we do need a physical evidence, don't we. We need to SEE to be reassured.

Here goes:

I found this picture online, and it has become my all-time favorite picture. I love those glamorous pictures of young Desi and Lucy, but this one tops the rest!

The resolution was poor and I did my best to enlarge and restore it.

My dear readers, feel free to right click and save this picture. I hope you find tranquility from this picture, that these two darlings were still such adorable lovebirds even after almost 20 years of divorce, where looks did not matter anymore, where the past was forgiven.