viral photos

Amber Robinson, a photographer from Raleigh, North Carolina, is used to capturing photos of young couples in love.

Much of her business comes from weddings and engagement shoots with couples bursting at the seams with new love. Recently, however, she took on an assignment that was... a bit different from her usual fare.

The photos she took were no less romantic or full of love. Unlike her usual clients, the stars of this photo shoot were her own parents.

Robinson's mom and dad — Marvin and Wanda Brewington — have been married for 47 years, and Robinson felt it was time the world heard their powerful love story.

She shared the glamorous photos on Instagram where they quickly went viral, racking up thousands of likes and comments.

All photos by Amber Robinson used with permission.

The lifelong connection the couple has shared practically jumps off the screen, and has people across the internet swooning.

The photos weren't just adorable. They held a powerful message about making love last far beyond a wedding day or engagement shoot.

"In this wonderful creative industry that I worked in, I focus so much on providing couple hours with a day of beautiful photography," she wrote in the emotional post. "To be honest, rarely do I stop to think about the day, weeks, months or years that follow a wedding day."

In her parents' 47 years together, they've endured cancer, raised children, been through dozens of ups and downs, and have shown their children how to live with the generosity of an open heart.

"They are the epitome of where I strive to be in my own marriage and a constant reminder that a wedding is only a day, but a marriage is forever," she wrote.

"If you are one of the millions in love, or maybe one of the millions of broken-hearted that need a visual reminder that love always endures, I would love for you to share this as a way of letting my mom and dad know, they are an inspiration to anyone who wants, believes, or is in love."

There's a myth floating around out there that true love is dead, killed by divorce and casual hookups — but that couldn't be further from the truth.

People love to cite outdated divorce statistics, or "hook up culture," as a sign that younger generations don't take relationships seriously. But the data shows otherwise.

People are waiting longer and longer to get married, have more freedom to choose their partner, are feeling less pressure to settle down when they're not ready (or at all, if they don't want to!), and likely as a result of that, divorces are actually at a 40-year low.

"I guess people have been given a restored sense of hope through these images," Robinson writes in an email. "So much bad is happening in the world and to look at these pictures and image that a lasting love IS possible just brings hope, especially during this time of the year."

Lifelong monogamy isn't for everyone. But it's hard not to look at these photos and not get all warm and tingly.