Well every day is a celebration. I watch nightly news for the Atlantic provinces and they have this section where people send in big celebrations to be shared. Well today marks my parents 67th wedding anniversary. Holy moly blessings and all!! What a testament to being together!!! They have certainly given witness to commitment, dedication and foolishness. Oops. That slipped out. No mom and dad, not foolishness but wonderfully in awe especially with dad having your ear mom. LOL.
All I can say is what a journey! It always amazes me how two people end up with each other. Never mind that they are together for a long period of time. What does it take? Just like parenting, lots of books on the subject but no golden ruler or set of instructions. Yes one takes vows but unfortunately things don’t always turn out the way you think they will.
But, I remember the story of how my parents met. My mom was with her friends at a dance and my dad was with his but a mutual friend introduced them. Anyway, my mom just finished dancing with a young man who was shorter than mom which she did not like. So when dad approached my mom who was sitting on the bleachers, my dad asked her for the next dance. Mom looked at my dad and said, “how tall are you?” And dad said, not surprisingly, “Tall enough.” Talk about cheeky. Obviously they hit it off because the two planned for dad to pick mom up the next day and go visit good friends of his. Now dad had dropped off mom the previous night but it was dark. Not too many lights on her street and the houses kind of looked the same. He had an idea of where mom could be. Anyway he drove down the street in the early morning looking for anything familiar. He did not. Dad had passed her home and did not even know it. He was just about to leave when he looked in rear view mirror once more and there stood mom outside on her porch. And the rest they say is history.
So to you mom and dad on this day and for all the other older loves that have found themselves celebrating such a wondrous journey. I am in awe and wonder in the sacredness of a love that endures. Maybe survives is a better word. No. I think endures or everlasting. It is a daily love to me. Right? A love that holds in the ordinary day, taking a toll by life lived but still persists through the nooks and crannies of living together, children or not, thick and thin, of the daily. The shiny newness of newly wedded bliss becomes less shiny as the years pass. But in that somehow the kernels of the vows said and given to each other hold steadfast.
I’m sure one can ask all kinds of couples how have they done it. And the responses would be far and wide, a whole gamut of words of wisdom for staying the course together. Being together. Lasting. If I think of the Scripture passage from 1 Corinthians 13: 4-8 4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
Is it love only? I think it is so much more. But who am I to say and certainly not the AI question and answer expressionless response either. For me, go directly to the source. The couples celebrating. Who else? What a gift to bestow and share. And to you mom and dad, thank you. Blessings.
Let us pray for those who are in need of our prayers today and for those who are celebrating an enduring togetherness. Amen
Karenpondering 