"Marriage can be tough at times. But when you marry the right person, every day is worth it. Be they good days or tough days - they are always worth it."
Years ago, my wife and I went to an event where they had hired an "old man" comic to tell some older folks' jokes. I guess even back then I was considered to be an "older folk". Shortly after his routine started, he said - "How many of you have gotten up in the morning, looked in the mirror, and said 'What the hell just happened'?" In other words, where is the young person I always thought I could be? Now, we are all looking more like our parents - or our grandparents.
Why tell that story? This past week, my wife and I celebrated our 50th wedding anniversary. It was a big thing for us, as my folks made it to 50, and so did my wife's folks. Now we have joined their club. It is an honor, a privilege, a gift from God.
Staying at a lodge up in Ely, we started to reminisce about all of the highways and byways we have had during the last 50 years. I would like to share some with you. Excuse my sentence structure - I am going to "free form this one" -
Got out of the Navy, went to college and met my wife who was also in college. We fell in love, got married (both still students), and were flat broke for our first two years. My wife graduated, I graduated, my wife started teaching, I found a job in Eagan Township. We could see some daylight from being so broke. Then my wife went back to school for her Master's, and we were flat broke again. I went back in the Navy Reserve to get some more money coming into the house. Our careers continued, I changed jobs a couple of times, and we built a house in the outer burbs. We had two daughters. Meanwhile, I finished my 21 years in the Navy and Naval Reserve and retired. Our girls grew up, graduated from high school, and both eventually got college degrees. Finally, our careers were over, and we retired. We were blessed with two grandies and did some of the travel we always wanted to do - just the two of us.
Many of us that are my age has done the same thing. Looked back at your life and wondered what happened. How decades upon decades could slip by so quickly. Soon it was five decades. How that thick lock of hair on my head, could not only lose it color, but also, it's roots. How all my pants suddenly started getting very tight. Then you realize it - you have just experienced this thing called life. The ups and downs and ins and outs as you walk this amazing journey with your best friend.
One of my friends who is single once asked me if every day is wonderful when you are married. I felt I needed to tell him the truth. No, not every day is wonderful. Some days are tough. Marriage can be tough at times. But when you marry the right person, every day is worth it. Be they good days or tough days - they are always worth it. And that is our story. Fifty blessed years together, and still going strong.
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