Today is my parent’s 50th wedding anniversary! I know they have trouble believing it. It’s the accumulation of lots of days, weeks, months and years of commitment to each other. They were just kids, really, when they married. High school sweethearts. I wasn’t there, of course, but I remember poring over their wedding album and hearing the stories about their special day.
As an observer I know that things haven’t always been perfect. There certainly is no such thing as a perfect marriage. However, they have weathered the tough times and stayed together and for that I am grateful.
If you know me well, you know that I was born just 10 months after they got married. I’m sure that had to be quite the adjustment. They were barely used to each other and then a baby entered the picture. But my parents were blessed to have a lot of family close by to help. Three more girls were added to the mix over time and my Dad was soon outnumbered.
I guess what I appreciate most is growing up in a stable family. Of course I didn’t appreciate it at the time because I didn’t know there was anything else. I had one friend whose parents were divorced but my closest friends had good, stable homes as well.
My Dad and Mom both worked very hard to provide for us. We didn’t always have the latest and greatest but I know, especially in the early years, how much was sacrificed for us. To this day we are all doted on and loved a lot. I love to go home because I feel safe and loved and cherished.
I’m sure that looking back my parents each have dreams unrealized. That can be difficult but it’s then that we need to count the blessings that we’ve been given. There are so many who love and respect my parents and for that I am so proud.
Thanks, Mom and Dad, for sticking it out through the tough times and for being the people you are. I am very thankful to be your daughter and I love you both very much.
Happy Anniversary!
“Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth.
Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.” 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 ESV