A wedding anniversary is the celebration of love, trust, partnership, tolerance and tenacity. The order varies for any given year. ~Paul Sweeney
Happy anniversary to my husband and to me. We’re celebrating many years together today. We’ve had a way of celebrating in some different ways some years and typical ways other years. So far we haven’t gone on cruises or elaborate trips. November isn’t the greatest time of year for that, but that’s when we tied the knot.
My sister was my maid of honor. A buddy from college was my husband’s best man. I got my best friend to play the wedding march. She missed some of the notes, but I walked down the aisle anyway. Only our families were there. I was very young. Too young in most people’s eyes. My husband was a few years older than me, but young too. I wore a hat with a little veil and a pencil slim dress. I still have the dress but no way could I get into it now. Some things you just keep.
That November day was wintry when we showed up at the little church my husband and his family were attending and said our vows. Rain mixed with snowflakes. By morning ice had coated the car. That’s one of my husband’s oft repeated memories from the first morning of our marriage – how he had to chisel ice off the car door to get it open. We went to Cumberland Falls on our honeymoon. It stayed cold but we wore our winter coats and went down to view the falls. We ate at the lodge restaurant even though we stayed at a cheaper motel down the road. We were sorry we chose the lodge to eat because the menu prices were too high for the money in our pockets. It took forever to get the hamburgers we ordered. I remember we joked about how they probably never cooked hamburgers for dinner at that restaurant.
Since then, we’ve shared a lot of anniversaries. Some more romantic than others. Our first anniversary we already had a baby and by the time I got the baby to sleep, my husband was snoring away. Sigh. I’m sure by the next year we figured out something more romantic, but if so, I don’t remember. Advance through the years and we added two more children. Busy times. Fun times. Sometimes the kids had events, basketball games, or who knows what now on our anniversary date.
Some years my mom kept the kids when they were little so we could go out to dinner. Once I remember we went off for an overnight stay at a state park. Took a wrong road on the way and spent extra hours cutting across country to get back to where we had reservations. Later, after Darrell started singing with a gospel quartet and our anniversary fell on Sundays, we celebrated a few years at whatever church had invited the group to sing. I remember Darrell standing on the pulpit and telling everybody we’d been married forty years. Made me feel ancient. Ah, to be that age again. LOL.
Some of the years, the Kentucky Book Fair fell on our anniversary date and we celebrated by me getting to go talk readers into giving one of my books a try. Darrell would come in support. On those days we were still able to head out for a special dinner after the Book Fair. We were even able to order something fancier than hamburgers sometimes. 🙂
One year we celebrated by walking in the St Jude Walk for the Cure. That was while my great-niece was treating for cancer at St. Jude. I still go do the St. Jude walk each year. We can never repay St. Jude for finding treatments to cure my niece and the many other children they help. But they’ve changed the date for the St. Jude walk so that it isn’t in November these days. However, our church does have a Thanksgiving dinner every year on the Sunday before Thanksgiving. Hmm, that’s sometimes November 19th the way it was today. Darrell asked me Friday how we were going to celebrate our anniversary. I told him I didn’t know what he was doing, but I was cooking a turkey.
We did have a big celebration a few years ago when the kids had a party for us to celebrate 50 years. The party was on the weekend after our anniversary or maybe before, so I’m sure we went out to dinner on the actual day. Maybe. If something else wasn’t happening.
I’m blessed to have had the chance to celebrate so many good years with a man who loves God, loves me and loves his family. As my dad used to say when he’d look around the table at all of us and our families gathered there, look what we started. All from that beginning in a little church many years ago.
As always, thanks for reading and celebrating with me on this anniversary.
Comments 43
Isn’t it amazing how the years stack up when we’re busy with life and the changes and challenges it brings? Thanks for sharing your anniversary stories. My first husband and I had 28 anniversaries, none of which were particularly memorable. But my first anniversary after I moved to Florida and remarried won’t be forgotten. We dined by candlelight, drank bottled water, and ate MREs (those preserved meals compacted into the size of a Gideon hotel Bible, yet capable of providing a hot entree plus side and condiments). You see, Hurricane Ivan came through a few days prior and left us in the dark, literally. We were so grateful for those who distributed daily supplies of ice, bottled drinking water, and MREs. Those kind folks probably never expected to go down in history (our anniversary history, that is). While that experience made a great story, it’s okay with me if the rest of our anniversaries are ordinary and low-key. ‘Content’ is a good thing.
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That is a unique first anniversary, Jolene. The candlelight sounded good and the bottled water not too bad, but the MREs lacked a little romance. You can say you weathered the storm together. Thanks for sharing your story. I hope you have many sweet and ordinary anniversaries in the future.
I to have an Anniversary in November, the 13th. Happy Anniversary to you and Darrell. 52 years for Ron and I, sometimes its been down hill, sometimes uphill, I don’t think a lot of young people today know how to “stick with it” I always say, the Lord is the glue that keeps you sticking together when times are tough! Another thing I tell people, there are four magic phrases {not really magic} just so important, they are, “I was wrong”, “I am sorry”, “forgive me”, and of course “I love you”…sometimes I have had to be the swallow my pride and be the first to apologize, even if I did not think I was wrong! Ha!!! Then sometimes I was wrong, and had to say so! It is not easy, but so important, especially when you have a family looking at your example. Again congratulations on your many years together, you are a blessing to your family, and so many others!
Well, Ann, my first comment didn’t make much sense in reply to your comment. I’ll try again. Yes, we are in the minority in today’s society. However, in our generation I have several friends and acquaintances that have been married 50 and plus years.