Today marks 47 years of marriage. Yes, to the same guy!!! They all said it wouldn't last but we proved them wrong - perhaps out of pure stubbornness or maybe it is our competitive natures. We both hate to lose. But I say -- it must be love. Whatever the reason, here we are.
Married at a young age, we sort of grew up together. This can be advantageous. There really were no surprises. But, there was a huge learning curve. The phrase "young and stupid" comes to mind. When we went to get our first apartment, we were literally pulling change from our pockets and the bottom of my purse to make the deposit of $110 for the rent. We made our first meal in our new apartment in a popcorn popper. Campbell's Vegetable Beef soup heats up quite nicely in a popcorn popper from the 70's. Who knew!!!
He swears marriage is more difficult for men than women. Women are so hard to understand he says. For my first birthday after we had been married for a mere 7 weeks, he gave me a vacuum cleaner. He was so proud. We needed a vacuum cleaner (we hadn't vacuumed in 7 weeks - ewww!) and he was being a good provider. I cried! 35 years later, I asked for a shed for Christmas. He got me two sheds and I was happy as a clam!! So what's not to understand? Women make perfect sense. If I had asked for a vacuum cleaner and got one, a vacuum cleaner would have been fine -- but seriously, who would ask for a vacuum cleaner? Certainly not I.
For the first several years of our marriage, he gave me a sympathy card for our anniversary. I was never really sure if the sympathy was for me or if it was transfer sympathy and he was feeling sorry for himself. The jury is still out on that one.
At 6 years I got a t-shirt. This was not just any old t-shirt - no, this one was special. It had words of love on it. It read - "6 years, I must be nuts!" Lovely. That could go both ways, so I wore that t-shirt to rags!! I have been known to hang on to clothes for quite a while so he actually asked me today if I still had that t-shirt. I don't, but I do still have the other t-shirt gem from about 20 years ago that reads - "Tyrannosaurus Rox." Speaks volumes doesn't it? Now I affectionately wear one with a picture of Grumpy on it that reads "I Love Grumpy Guys". Just sayin'.
Over the years - 47 to be exact - life has thrown us curves, there have been ups and downs, but always we had each other and God. When people ask how we have stayed married so long I often wonder if they are asking because they know us and can't believe we are still married to each other - or if it is because they just wonder how we've made it this far.
Marriage is not about the stuff. It's about commitment. It's about taking the good with the bad. It's about forgiving and forgetting. It's about respect and honor. It's about laughter and tears. It's about doing life together. "Two-gether" - Two as one! Your strangeness and my uniqueness combined in one life under the umbrella of God's great love.
Through it all, with God at the center, it's all about love and the rest of our lives "two-gether".
Happy Anniversary to the love of my life!
"For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh." Genesis 2: 24
"Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails." 1 Corinthians 13: 4- 8a
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