My grandparents had a complicated marriage. Then illness made them fall in love again.

The author's grandparents raised her.

Courtesy of the author My grandparents had a complicated marriage, but remained together.

When my grandmother developed cancer, the illness brought them closer than I'd ever seen.

They died three months apart, at the exact same hour and minute.

My grandmother got ovarian cancer in her 70s.

The initial sign came on New Year's Eve, when Gram, who often said overeating was one of her greatest flaws, thought she had simply done that.

She had eaten too much Chinese food , and that was why she threw up.

Or so my grandmother reasoned.

Next came the weight loss .

She'd struggled with her weight for most of her adult life, so the pounds falling off suddenly was concerning.

She'd been a shining example of a healthy older woman until the cancer diagnosis.

Gramps, on the other hand, had health battles from birth.

He was born with hydrocephalus , or water on the brain.

Time after time, he faced health issues.