Happy Anniversary

Parenting is a tough job, no doubt about it.  You fight an uphill battle every day.  Even if you are the best parent with good ethics and faith, and teach all of that to your children, the world outside your home challenges that every minute of every day!  It takes a strong and faith filled family to carry on in the face of the world’s adversities.  It is also the reason that there are two parents.  Often one can keep the other from climbing onto the roof and jumping off when it has been a particularly rough day!

This week, my husband and I celebrated 32 years of marriage.  That seems to be more and more uncommon in our world.  I can remember having to take “Mini Me” to the emergency room for stitches and having the receptionist look at me like I was from Mars because I insisted that we were her original parents as well as the same parents for all of her siblings!

Today, when young adults get married, it seems as though the focus is on the production of the day, the flowers, the linens, the decorations, who sits where, what do we eat, who pays for what.  I cannot argue when our priest says, if couples put  as much time into the marriage as they put into the festivities, divorce rates would be significantly lower!

32 years of marriage!  It has been a lot of work for both of us!   There has been a lot of fun, a great deal of stubbornness (okay – a lot of that is me), arguing, hugging, holding hands, apologies, compromising, and the list goes on and on.  Marriage should not be disposable.  In other words, you don’t just quit when it gets tough. 

The rewards you get when you work through the tough times and when you celebrate the joys are amazing!  And best of all, your kids reap the benefits of a solid home.  Please understand,  I do know that sometimes divorce is the best choice but it should not be taken as lightly as it seems to be in our society.  

So thank you and happy anniversary to my husband, my partner and the love of my life.  Together we have built a family that will hopefully carry on long after we are gone.  (It wouldn’t hurt if they felt like taking care of us when we get too old either – lol!)