This week, Hubby and I will celebrate our 43rd anniversary. That means we only have 17 more before we renegotiate our contract. When we married, we agreed to stay married for 60 years and then decide if we wanted to keep going or throw in the towel. Why 60 years? Right before we married, an elderly couple at church, the Cogburns, celebrated their 60th anniversary. We wondered if we’d make it to 60 years, and somehow out of that conversation, we decided to give 60 a try. At the time, it seemed like an eternity away, although to quote an old friend, “Only married people know what eternity feels like.”
A lot has happened in the last 43 years. I mean, we were married when Gerald Ford was president. No one had ever heard of Star Wars. Apple Corporation was formed that year. All those years, all those presidents, all those Star War movies, and all those Apple devices later, here we are still celebrating being together. The changes we’ve seen are becoming more sobering. I used to ask my grandfather what changes he’d seen over his lifetime from 1900 to 1986. People ask me that question now. It makes me feel really old.
Looking at our wedding pictures, I see two young kids who really didn’t have any idea what they were getting into. We bumbled along, overcame mistakes, and everything seemed to turn out okay. Mostly okay. As with any marriage, there have been ups and downs. Some big, some little. When the preacher said marriage is not something to be entered into lightly, he said more in that one sentence that we really understood at the time. But we’ve hung together and have a long shared history behind us.
This will be another anniversary we won’t be together on. That doesn’t bother either of us. We’ll celebrate later. Hubby’s been gone several anniversaries. He’s invited coworkers over for supper on our anniversary. We’ve never been a couple that makes a big deal out of it. When we went to Europe for our 40th, that was the biggest anniversary celebration we’d ever had. Maybe we’ll do something just as big for our 50th. You’re all invited to our 60th. I know you’ll be wondering what we decide to do.
Happy anniversary, Hubby. I hope the next 17 years are happy and healthy ones for us!
Happy anniversary! We were married in December and we celebrated many of our anniversaries at company Christmas parties! But it’s all good. Have a great celebration when you are together!