Even though we have different styles, we’re still a perfect pair…
Admittedly, cards for Anniversaries can be cheesy. But somehow I liked the one above. For today is our 29th Anniversary and a celebration over the weekend reminded us once again of what it means to continue on this journey called ‘marriage’.
Each year when July 15 rolls around I wonder: Should I do a blog post? Should I write about us? About our marriage?
And every year I have done so with a lump in my throat and a wonder if I should have.
But in an era where marriage is less and less a sacrament, and more and more about ‘love’ alone – I think it’s worth it. I think it’s worth taking a look at the For better and For worse pieces of this mysterious institution, designed by God and carried out by fragile, broken men and women.
29 years is a lot of life. A lot longer than we lived as single people. Sometimes 29 years feels like a whole lot of ‘young’; a lot of joy and laughter. Other times 29 years feels like a whole lot of ‘old’. a lot of tears and anger.
For there are times when you laugh until your stomach aches and you can’t imagine life without this person. And then there are times when you are so angry you wish evil thoughts on this person – the one to whom you pledged your troth.
For Better or For Worse has different meanings now than it did to a 24 and a 23 year old – and yes, I am older than He.
For better now means joy-filled weekends when we can get away, time with our kids discussing deep topics or laughing until it hurts; dreaming together; me still laughing at his jokes – even after all this time. For better means ocean walks and figuring out what it means to love God and love each other.
For worse now means a lot of pain and heartache; too many moves; not enough Grace.
For richer means a trip to St. Maarten for our 25th anniversary; dinners at the Emerson Inn with Oyster Bay Savignon Blanc in crystal goblets; buying me real gold earrings.
For poorer means learning how to pay off debt and say ‘no’; losing a home and paying for college.
In sickness now means melanoma checks and high cholesterol, colonoscopies and mammograms.
In health means walking for miles and energy to work hard in our fifties.
And through all this somehow Hope has been stronger than Despair; Laughter more powerful than tears; Joy infinitely more determined than sorrow.
I still have the red shoes and in winter He still has the tan boots.
We are opposite in some things and on the same page in others. We are indeed “different styles but a perfect pair” – a pair that could only have been thought up and orchestrated by God Himself.
And those are my thoughts on the 29th Anniversary of a Brave Marriage.
