Aristotle once said "Educating the mind without educating the heart is no education at all." He also said that "Love is composed of a single soul inhabiting two bodies." and he was right — so very, very accurate on both counts.

Elizabeth had never really paid much mind to the philosophical ramblings of those she believed had no real experience of love, life or anything else for that matter. They were just useless words from dusty books hidden away in the depths of the library where nobody ever looked. That was until she met Henry McCord. Oh how that man had turned her life upside down, inside out and changed pretty much every single pre conceived notion she had of the world. He was her sun, her moon and every damn star in her sky and now her whole universe was dark.

Elizabeth sat alone in her bedroom. The early afternoon sun was seeping through the shutters and there was the typical September nip in the air, signalling the beginning of fall. She could hear the chatter coming from the rest of the house and it warmed her heart to have her family back under one roof, even if it was for the worst possible reason.

When Alison and Jason had moved away and forged their own paths in life, getting married and having children of their own, Stevie had been the one who remained close. When she and Dimitri married, they continued to live in DC and once they'd welcomed their children - Thomas first, followed by Jasmine a few years later and then finally Luka, they had all spent a great deal of time together at the farmhouse.

Thomas had followed in his grandparents footsteps and had worked his way up the ladder, becoming a policy advisor for Secretary Aldridge, although he revelled in telling Elizabeth that she was still known as the best Secretary of State America had ever seen. When he'd met a White House staffer and they'd had a baby girl, Elizabeth had known straight away that she was something special. She could just see it in those gorgeous blue eyes and they had been close ever since.

Their home had been the backdrop for amazing highs, heartbreaking lows and pretty much everything else in between, but it had always been the place they most belonged. The very fabric of that house was comprised of love, and the essence of it seeped out of it's core and filled the air. She smiled as she thought back to their very first night there. How they had sat on the porch eating pizza and drinking beer while the kids played in the grass. It was an adjustment Elizabeth had struggled to make, yet she remembered the look Henry gave her as if it were yesterday and it had stayed with her, her whole life. It was the same look he'd given her the very first time they'd set eyes on each other — And also the very last. It was pure love.

Her eyes skimmed the room, every inch of it holding a different memory. And each memory built the story of her life, of their life together. She had lived in a good few places over the years. Her very first home with her parents, the grungy dorm rooms of Houghton Hall and UVA, the first tiny apartment she and Henry had rented when they first got married, the gorgeous brownstone in DC and the White House. But this place, this gorgeous farmhouse in Virginia was where her heart had always belonged, here and with Henry McCord.

A soft voice startled Elizabeth from her thoughts and she glanced towards the bedroom doorway, her eyes landing on a young girl standing there smiling warmly.

"Hey grams, you looked deep in thought and I didn't want to startle you. Are you okay?" Amelie was the spitting image of her great grandmother, the blonde hair and blue eyes sparkling with mischief. She had just been accepted to UVA, following in the footsteps of her great - great grandparents and her great- grandparents before her and Elizabeth couldn't be more proud.

Elizabeth and Henry had been blessed with three amazing children, six grandchildren and four great grandchildren during their life together. A life that was happy, for the most part. There had, of course, been hard times and heartbreak, but family had always been at the centre of everything and they were who Elizabeth drew her strength from now.

She beaconed for Amelie to enter "Come in my darling girl, I was just thinking."

The young girl sat down next to Elizabeth "Were you thinking about grandpa Henry?"

"I'm always thinking about grandpa Henry." She smiled as his name left her lips "I was looking through some old photos." Her hand brushed across the tatty old album sitting in her lap "We lived quite the life."

"Will you show me?"

Elizabeth smiled once more at the beautiful girl sitting beside her. Amelie was extremely close to her great grandmother and was the one who spent most time with her. They would read together, talk for hours and whenever Amelie had a problem, it was always Elizabeth she would call. It was a bond as strong as she'd had with Stevie and she was so very grateful for the love that surrounded her.

"You really want to look at them?"

"Of course I do! Are they pictures of you and grandpa Henry?"

Elizabeth nodded "We have so many photo albums, but this one -." She gripped it tightly. "This one was just for me and him."

She opened up the album and her thumb swept over the first picture. A small Polaroid, one of the corners folded over and the colour faded. A memory that had lasted over sixty five years.

A smile crept across Elizabeth's lips "This was the first photograph ever taken of us."

"You both look so young."

"We were. I had no idea what love was until I met Henry but it changed my life in all the best ways." Elizabeth's thumb traced Henry's face and she closed her eyes, reliving the memory held in that photograph.

Amelie watched her great grandmother intently "I bet that old photograph holds an interesting story. Will you share it with me, grams?"

Elizabeth looked up "You don't want to hear my silly stories sweet girl."

"They're not silly stories and I do want to hear about your life with grandpa Henry so let's start at the beginning." Amelie pulled her chair closer to Elizabeth's and smiled "I want to hear it all."