How do couples do it? Stay married, that is.
Momma and Daddy celebrated their 50th Wedding Anniversary last December and the family got together for a celebration a couple of weekends ago.
I’m a little envious of them. I’m recently married to a wonderful man. But chances are that we won’t see our 50th wedding anniversary… married at 42… 50 years makes us 92, (okay – Gary’d be only 90!) Most likely won’t happen.
Momma and Daddy were married when they were in their early 20s… Momma was 20 and Daddy was 22. I’ve looked through photos of them … and the older I get, the younger they look in the photos!
Their first date was a Billy Graham revival. And every weekend included attending church together on Sunday. They were married in Texas – not Hawaii where my mother’s family lived. Momma flew from Honolulu to Texas – a 20-hour flight in those days. Daddy met momma at the airport and told her that he had everything set for a wedding at the justice of the peace the next day. That wasn’t acceptable to momma, however. She told him, “Virgil, I’m not that kind of a girl. We get married today or I’m going back to Hawaii”!
And they did… get married that same day. Daddy and momma went to daddy’s pastor’s house, interrupted their supper, and got married. The pastor’s wife was one of the witnesses.
What an interesting way to start a marriage. Looking back, I realize how independent and gutsy my parents were. My mom left her large and protective family to be with the man that she loved. And she trusted him to live up to his promises. She had no money and if my dad had been a different sort of man, she would have been in a very bad situation. My dad, on the other hand, was willing to marry the woman that he loved who was of a race that wasn’t considered acceptable in some areas of the south. They started out poor and didn’t expect nor receive any financial help from their families. But they had something solid. And they weathered a lot of very bad storms. And here they are in their golden years, still together.
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