Today marks thirty-five years since Joan and I exchanged vows at St. John Vianney Church in Hacienda Heights, California. Things have changed a lot since those days. Disco fever was at its peak and gas was sixty-two cents a gallon. The Soviet Union menaced the world but Iran was friendly to the United States. Listening to recorded music meant getting out a vinyl record or a cassette tape. The common denominator was that we were in love and eager to start our lives together at the ages of 23 and 22.
Since then a lot of water has gone under the bridge. We have lived in five different residences and have worked at eight full-time and innumerable extra part-time jobs between us. We have driven ten different vehicles. We have sent our two daughters to eight different schools, seen one of them married and both of them grow into fine young women. Joan and I have visited twenty-five states and six foreign countries together.
And we're still in love. It's not quite the same desperate longing and heart-racing type of love as it was back then most of the time. Now it's more often a love like a comfortable sweater or pillow: warm, reassuring and deeply appreciated.
It is a wonderful and miraculous thing to have one to be unselfconsciously devoted to and to have that devotion returned without question or hesitation. Sure we get on each other's nerves from time to time, but the underlying love and commitment never wavers. It's a great feeling to have someone who is always in your corner. The one thing I'm more convinced of than ever is that love truly is the most important thing in life. I feel like the luckiest guy in the world. Happy anniversary, honey, and thanks for thirty-five great years!
3 comments:
Every husband does my friend. Happy Anniversary.
A heart warming post. With so many negative comments about marriage, especially from men, it is good to hear some praise. Jane and I have you beat by 20 years and share your feelings.
Congratulations, Earl. 55 years is really something special!
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