Thirty Years

August 7th, 1982.

Unbelievable. We were just kids 30 years ago! We fell in love, we got married. For better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health. Yikes. That’s a mouthful and a life-ful!

Thankfully, I married one of the greatest guys around! He is faithful, loving, patient, kind, giving, and forgiving.  And he’s funny and hardworking and he loves his four kids, and he loves God. And he loves me…unconditionally. So, yeah, I am blessed.

We have fumbled through 30 years of life together. Sometimes it’s been better, sometimes worse. Life throws curve balls at times.  Sometimes we acted like we were rich, sometimes we struggled because we really weren’t. We’ve both been sick at times, but mostly healthy (thankfully). A few health issues surface now and then, and that’s hard sometimes. But we carry on. Sometimes he acts like a baby when he’s sick (men are like that).  I learn patience. Sometimes I cry when I’m stressed or worried about life (women are like that). He hugs me then and helps me through it. He learns patience.

Sometimes we wonder how we could have been so blessed to have ended up with each other. We ‘get’ each other. Over the years, we seem to start thinking the same, doing the proverbial ‘finishing each others’ sentences’, laughing at each others silly jokes, making our kids crazy with our weird sense of humour. And then sometimes we don’t really like each other much at all. We wonder what the heck we were thinking when we said “I do”. Was it a mistake? Sometimes we don’t feel the love.  We’ve both been selfish. We’ve been too tired or too stubborn to talk. But then love wins out.

And we are so different! How can two people, who are so different, really think they can spend their lives together happily..till death?

Well, it can happen. Nobody said it would be easy, but it is worth it!

In my experience, forgiveness is the key to love. Oh, it’s about way more than that, of course, but learning to accept your spouse’s and your own imperfections and choosing to forgive when you don’t feel like it, looking at your partner (and yourself) through God’s eyes – unconditional acceptance despite the flaws – well, I think that takes you a  long way.

Like I heard recently, there is only one thing more romantic than a young married couple… and that’s an old married couple. I think I agree. Love that has grown through the years changes and becomes something really special.

Nobody’s perfect. No marriage is perfect. But when you’ve been together 30 years and you look at each other and can laugh at the way you have both aged, and know that you will be there for each other through the long haul…that’s quite perfect!

 

In the next post, I’ll share about where we celebrated our anniversary (thanks to our generous kids!!).