In a world where everyone seems to get divorced, it's always rather touching to find a couple still in love after decades of marriage. Mona and Des Manahan have been married for 56 years and have taken their vows to each other very seriously.
When it comes to loving one another in sickness and in health, Des recently stepped up his game and went above and beyond for his wife, who is now slowly losing her eyesight. Mona has difficulty putting on her makeup, so Des decided to take lessons in order to help his wife. How sweet is that?
Des and Mona, who are now in their 80s, went to a Debenhams department store in their hometown of Waterford, Ireland when Mona decided to get a beauty tutorial from makeup artist, Rosie O'Driscoll. It was then that Des began to watch the session, teasing O'Driscol that he could do Mona's makeup better than she could.
Des told TODAY Style, “I started messing with her and I said, ‘Look, you’ve got it crooked there, you did this wrong,’ joking her. And then she just handed me the brushes and said, ‘Well, you do it.’ So I started to do a little bit with it.”
When O'Driscoll gave him a turn, Des ended up being quite good at applying his wife's makeup and admitted that he enjoyed the experience so much so that he decided to return for more makeup classes in order to get better.
I tried to get through this interview with the amazing couple without crying... but I just couldn't...
Des now knows how to apply lipstick and blush, and has become quite good at doing Mona's eyebrows. He also enjoys experimenting with different techniques and often chooses his own makeup products to apply.
However, Des still subscribes to the "less is more" rule. “We definitely don’t go for any kind of heavy makeup of any kind,” he said. It sounds like he's becoming a real pro!
“He got lesson after lesson after lesson, and loved every minute of it,” O’Driscoll revealed. “I think he prefers me to take a step back now and let him off, let him do whatever he wants to do,” she added. However, O'Driscoll isn't the only makeup artist Des has learned from.
After news of his heartwarming story spread and went viral, Des and Mona appeared on Ireland's Late Late Show, and the UK talk show This Morning, as well as having done countless other interviews, which led to the couple's story coming across the radar of celebrity makeup artist Mario Dedivanovic.
Dedivanovic has worked with the likes of Jennifer Lopez, Kim Kardashian, and Chrissy Teigen. When he heard Des and Mona's story he invited them both along with O'Driscoll to attend one of his masterclasses in London. He even posted on his Instagram account about the Manahans.
The masterclass happened in April and everyone had a wonderful time. “My heart felt so full seeing them there in front of me,” Dedivanovic gushed on Instagram.
Des and Mona certainly have an unbreakable and loving bond, which has only become stronger through their makeup sessions together. Now, they've added O'Driscoll into their lives as a close friend and the three of them do everything together.
"Everywhere we go, it’s Mona, Des, and Rosie,” O'Driscoll said. “We go out for lunch, we go out for dinner … I think they rely on me now as a friend.”
Mona confessed on This Morning that she is often asked how she trusts Des to get her makeup just right. After all, not many wives would trust their husbands to do their makeup for them. However, Mona revealed that she doesn't see a reason not to trust her husband and that she's just "delighted to sit down and have it done".
It's become a real bonding moment for the pair and Mona says that when a couple gets to be their age, it's only natural to help one another out. She says it's not uncommon to notice other elderly couples performing tasks that perhaps the one partner is unable to do for themselves anymore.
Des and Mona certainly are an inspirational couple and are perhaps the very personification of the popular hashtag #RelationshipGoals. If only I knew their secret, or perhaps it's no secret at all but rather it's about finding a loving and caring partner who is strong enough for real commitment.
Ah yes, it seems that good men really do exist. We wish all the best to Des and Mona. May we all someday experience a love like the one they have for one another.
