Many competitions in life award the win to those who do things the fastest:
- Ate 13 hotdogs in 5 minutes
- Ran a marathon in 2 hours, 4 minutes
- Finished a four-year college degree in 2 years
But at least one reward should go to those who practice endurance and perseverance. In a land of drive-thru wedding and divorce chapels, marriage is quickly becoming a doomed institution.
I imagine this conversation going on in my parent’s home right now (ripped from Tevya and Goldie’s “Do You Love Me?” song from Fiddler on the Roof)…
Mike: Do you love me?
Velma: Do I love you? For fifty years I’ve washed your clothes. Cooked your meals. Cleaned your house. Given you children. Milked the cow. After fifty years, why talk about love right now?
Mike: Do you love me?
Velma: I’m your wife…
Mike: I know…But do you love me?
Velma: Do I love him? For fifty years I’ve lived with him. Fought with him. Starved with him. For fifty years my bed is his. If that’s not love, what is?
Mike: Then you love me?
Velma: I suppose I do…
Mike: And I suppose I love you, too.
Velma and Mike: It doesn’t change a thing. But even so, after fifty years it’s nice to know.
Congratulations, Mom and Dad! I’m sure it wasn’t easy to stay married for 50 years. During those years you’ve gone through many cars, and several cosmetic changes in your home. You raised 3 children and have been a rock to 9 grandchildren. You’ve seen sideburns and beehive hairdos come and go. And come back and go again. You survived the polyester-plaid 70s. You saw the buildup of the Cold War, and you saw the Berlin War torn down. And yet you somehow survived in spite of your very different tastes in foods and television shows.
Yes, for 50 years, change remained constant. But in good times and in bad, in sickness and in health, in rich times and in lean times you remained loyal and constant. Oh, and married. If that’s not love, what is?
P.S. When you reach your 75th wedding anniversary, I promise that we are going to throw you a HUGE party!
Thanks Scott for the wonderful memories! I knew your folks back then and do now! I think their first date was a ‘double date’ with my late wife Joan and me! Had my wife lived (she passed in 1999), we would have been married 52 years last May. I had to ask, but is my invitation to their huge 75th anniversary party in the mail? My best wishes to your folks, to their three ‘kids’, and their 8 grandkids. love, Wes
Within 25 years, we won’t need to send invitations. We will think it, and it will be done! I remember your wife well. She was the best cook I ever had the pleasure to share a table with. I didn’t know my parent’s first date was a double with you two! That might be something I have to add to the family Jeopardy Game.