*taking a bow* I'm honored that you think my writing portrays true love accurately. No, I haven't experienced it, though I thought I'd come close a time or two. But it always turned out not to be what I'd thought - though I signed on for the long haul, the other always seemed to tire and turn away.

However, my maternal grandparents stayed together for 60 years, through thick and thin, and died only a month apart. Much like Sam, my grandpa couldn't go on without his wife, and died of a heart attack as well. I wish he could have gone the way Sam does in this fic, right at her side. It would have saved him a month of terrible grief. But they're together now, and so I'm happy for them.