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A pair of grandparents recreated popular wedding photos, and it's adorable.

This is marriage done right.

A pair of grandparents recreated popular wedding photos, and it's adorable.

Shalyn Nelson's grandparents, Joe Ray and Billie Wanda Johnson, have been married for 65 years.

A couple of years ago, the 30-year-old photographer asked her Papaw, 86, and Mamaw, 83, to indulge her by participating in an adorable photo shoot. Now, the heartwarming photos are going viral.

This wasn't just your typical dress-up, stand-and-smile routine, either — it was a fun and playful shoot. Shalyn had her grandparents re-create today's most popular wedding photos (any Pinterest board about wedding-day poses will quickly confirm this), and the results were adorable.

Shalyn grew up next-door to her grandparents. She didn't have much of a father figure around, but she says Papaw and Mamaw filled that void throughout her life with their love and endless support.

"They have taught me the true meaning of marriage," Shalyn says. "No marriage is perfect, and my grandparents will be the first to tell you that. But they never gave up."

Mamaw and Papaw met when she was in high school and he was in college.

Their families knew each other. He asked to drive her home one day, and then asked to take her out. Young and in love, they got engaged in 1950 after just two years of dating while he finished college and got a job.

Papaw planted a rose bush outside the couple's window when they built their house on Hidden Lake Ranch in Jewett, Texas. "Billie Wanda is the rose of my life ... but it does have a few thorns here and there," Papaw said, laughing.

Photo by Shalyn Nelson/Love, The Nelsons.

Here are 21 beautiful pics celebrating Papaw and Mamaw's life together that will make you believe in love.

1. Just look at these two. That's amoré!

Photo by Shalyn Nelson/Love, The Nelsons, used with permission.

2. Papaw gets playful with the "I caught the bouquet" pose.

Photo by Shalyn Nelson/Love, The Nelsons, used with permission.

3. Isn't a kiss on the forehead always the sweetest?

Photo by Shalyn Nelson/Love, The Nelsons, used with permission.

4. "Walking through life together, but the trail's getting short," Papaw tells Shalyn.

Photo by Shalyn Nelson/Love, The Nelsons, used with permission.

5. You gotta have a shot of the radiant bride in her full, beautiful splendor.

Photo by Shalyn Nelson/Love, The Nelsons, used with permission.

6. A glimpse of a touching love letter Papaw wrote to his bride.

Photo by Shalyn Nelson/Love, The Nelsons, used with permission.

7. Can't you just feel the love between these two?

Photo by Shalyn Nelson/Love, The Nelsons, used with permission.

8. This "almost-kiss" shot is a must for every wedding photographer.

Photo by Shalyn Nelson/Love, The Nelsons, used with permission.

9. The happy couple posing with the letters they wrote to each other.

Photo by Shalyn Nelson/Love, The Nelsons, used with permission.

10. An homage to Billie Wanda, the rose of his life.

Photo by Shalyn Nelson/Love, The Nelsons, used with permission.

11. The blushing bride is simply gorgeous.

Photo by Shalyn Nelson/Love, The Nelsons, used with permission.

12. How cute is this pose right before the bride and groom see each other for the first time?

Photo by Shalyn Nelson/Love, The Nelsons, used with permission.

13. Peek-a-boo!

Photo by Shalyn Nelson/Love, The Nelsons, used with permission.

14. You can't argue with that nuzzling.

Photo by Shalyn Nelson/Love, The Nelsons, used with permission.

15. And the veil-over-the-heads shot is also a must on any wedding photographer's list. Nailed it.

Photo by Shalyn Nelson/Love, The Nelsons, used with permission.

16. You can't forget a close-up photo of the couple's hands wearing their wedding bands. The wrinkles add character.

Photo by Shalyn Nelson/Love, The Nelsons, used with permission.

17. As giddy as they must have been on their actual wedding day.

Photo by Shalyn Nelson/Love, The Nelsons, used with permission.

18. We now pronounce you man and wife, still — after 65 years.

Photo by Shalyn Nelson/Love, The Nelsons, used with permission.

19. You may now kiss the bride ... again!

Photo by Shalyn Nelson/Love, The Nelsons, used with permission.

20. May you continue to only have eyes for each other.

Photo by Shalyn Nelson/Love, The Nelsons, used with permission.

21. And live happily ever after.

Photo by Shalyn Nelson/Love, The Nelsons, used with permission.

Marriage is tough. Celebrating 65 years together is an amazing milestone.

While marriage isn't for everyone, Mamaw and Papaw are wonderful role models for those who do choose to walk down the aisle with their eyes and their hearts wide open.

They're a great example of the beautiful things that can happen if you choose to embark on that crazy roller coaster ride filled with ups and downs and twists and turns that marriage guarantees.

"Everybody can't always have their own way. There has to be a little give and take," Mamaw advises. "Just have good common sense."

If after 65 together, you can still play dress-up, act silly with one another, laugh at each other, and just plain enjoy each other's company ... you're doing it right.

#ScienceWillWin

We asked three people about how vaccines have impacted their lives. Here’s what they said.

Images courtesy of John Scully, Walden University, Ingrid Scully

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Since March of 2020, over 29 million Americans have been diagnosed with COVID-19, according to the CDC. Over 540,000 have died in the United States as this unprecedented pandemic has swept the globe. And yet, by the end of 2020, it looked like science was winning: vaccines had been developed.

In celebration of the power of science we spoke to three people: an individual, a medical provider, and a vaccine scientist about how vaccines have impacted them throughout their lives. Here are their answers:

John Scully, 79, resident of Florida

Photo courtesy of John Scully

When John Scully was born, America was in the midst of an epidemic: tens of thousands of children in the United States were falling ill with paralytic poliomyelitis — otherwise known as polio, a disease that attacks the central nervous system and often leaves its victims partially or fully paralyzed.

"As kids, we were all afraid of getting polio," he says, "because if you got polio, you could end up in the dreaded iron lung and we were all terrified of those." Iron lungs were respirators that enclosed most of a person's body; people with severe cases often would end up in these respirators as they fought for their lives.

John remembers going to see matinee showings of cowboy movies on Saturdays and, before the movie, shorts would run. "Usually they showed the news," he says, "but I just remember seeing this one clip warning us about polio and it just showed all these kids in iron lungs." If kids survived the iron lung, they'd often come back to school on crutches, in leg braces, or in wheelchairs.

"We all tried to be really careful in the summer — or, as we called it back then, 'polio season,''" John says. This was because every year around Memorial Day, major outbreaks would begin to emerge and they'd spike sometime around August. People weren't really sure how the disease spread at the time, but many believed it traveled through the water. There was no cure — and every child was susceptible to getting sick with it.

"We couldn't swim in hot weather," he remembers, "and the municipal outdoor pool would close down in August."

Then, in 1954 clinical trials began for Dr. Jonas Salk's vaccine against polio and within a year, his vaccine was announced safe. "I got that vaccine at school," John says. Within two years, U.S. polio cases had dropped 85-95 percent — even before a second vaccine was developed by Dr. Albert Sabin in the 1960s. "I remember how much better things got after the vaccines came out. They changed everything," John says.

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Labor and delivery nurse overcomes pandemic challenges to continue support of at-risk mothers

Courtesy of CeraVe

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"I love being a nurse because I have the honor of connecting with my patients during some of their best and some of their worst days and making a difference in their lives is among the most rewarding things that I can do in my own life" - Tenesia Richards, RN

From ushering new life into the world to holding the hand of a patient as they take their last breath, nurses are everyday heroes that deserve our respect and appreciation.

To give back to this community that is always giving so selflessly to others, CeraVe® put out a call to nurses to share their stories for a chance to be featured in Heroes Behind the Masks, a digital content series shining a light on nurses who go above and beyond to provide safe and quality care to patients and their communities.

First up: Tenesia Richards, a labor and delivery nurse working in New York City who, in addition to her regular job, started a community outreach program in a homeless shelter that houses expectant mothers for up to one year postpartum.

Tenesia | Heroes Behind the Masks presented by CeraVe www.youtube.com

Upon learning at a conference that black mothers in the U.S. die at three to four times the rate of white mothers, one of the widest of all racial disparities in women's health, Richards decided to take further action to help her community. She, along with a handful of fellow nurses, volunteered to provide antepartum, childbirth and postpartum education to the women living at the shelter. Additionally, they looked for other ways to boost the spirits of the residents, like throwing baby showers and bringing in guest speakers. When COVID-19 hit and in-person gatherings were no longer possible, Richards and her team found creative workarounds and created holiday care packages for the mothers instead.

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