Enough For Ever After: ...30 years...

Today marks 30 years of wedded bliss for my mom and dad. They are many, many miles away, so I can’t really celebrate with them today…but I can pay tribute to the successful marriage that was modeled before me every day of my life. There is no measuring the kind of impact their relationship has made on me and my ability to now experience that kind of relationship with my own husband. Luckily, DG, my baby brother, and I were at home with them last weekend, so we had a tiny, impromptu celebration and bought a card, a cake, and some balloons. I would have loved to do much more, as 30 years is definitely an accomplishment to celebrate, but living so far away makes it a little difficult.

Today I am especially grateful for having had the privilege to grow up in such a loving home. I really believe that the best thing husbands and wives can do for their children is to love each other well, and Mom and Dad have certainly done that. Their journey has not been absent of a few bumps here and there, but their deep commitment to each other and to our family has brought them thus far. I can honestly say that 30 years later, they are still very much in love. And in a world riddled with dissension and division, I count myself blessed to have learned how to love DG from the way Mom and Dad have loved each other. There is something to be said for staying the course and working at a relationship, communicating through the difficult situations, and ultimately growing closer through the conflict. So often we give up when things become uncomfortable and take the easy way out, and for many couples, marriage is no different, but I have a lot of hope for my own marriage. I learned from the best. J

Congrats, Mom and Dad! I am so proud to know you as mine. You are a shining example of what love looks like in the midst of this too often dark and lonely world. I love you!