50 Years of Marriage

My parents will be married 50 years tomorrow. Their marriage is amazing and wonderful and inspiring. It makes me think about marriage and relationships and all of that. I've not managed to figure it out for myself, but I think one of the keys to their marriage is that they decided long ago, probably about 50 years ago, that they were in it together, for the long haul, no matter what. They decided that they were going on this journey together and they would make it work. They decided to be married and share a life together. Now, I know that sounds simple and obvious but really, once they decided to be together it was always a "given", sort of like breathing. Sure I can remember difficult moments. Sometimes I thought my dad was a little too hard on my mom. And I can remember my mom being worn out from her kids and her aging parents and the grandkids she helped raise. But that never made me think they loved each other less. Now when I spend time with them I see how they enjoy each other's company every day. My mom laughs at my dad's jokes as if she is on her first date with him.

I have been going through old photographs of my family and I feel pride, nostalgia and love for my parents and my siblings. I had and still have a joyful family. Sure, we're competitive and we don't share the same political or religious views but when we are all together in a room talking about camping and our disastrous dog, Pepsi, or the road trip to Florida - we're all laughing our heads off and remembering and enjoying one another. We all live in Minneapolis, I think 5 of us are in the same zip code. My brother John tried to move away once, but that didn't last long. Our proximity to my parents says a lot about what they did for us and for each other these 50 years.

Thank you Pat and John!