“HOW did it get so late so soon?
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It’s night before its afternoon.
December is here before it’s June
My goodness, how the time has flewn.”
– Doctor Seuss
Rob and I have just celebrated 50 years of marriage, sharing each other’s world, all the day by day large and small dramas of our lives and of the lives of our family and friends around us.
When I reflect on the last 50 years it seems an extraordinarily long time in our lives. We were so young when we married, so there are many more years shared together than apart.
That marriage includes three daughters and a son, and now we add in partners and grandchildren, all the most precious and important parts of our lives.
Our shared memories include the towns and cities where we lived, the homes and gardens we nurtured, the friends we made at each staging point in our lives, the work we accomplished, the lives we touched, the lives that touched us.
It has been a fabulous journey and it certainly isn’t over yet.... at least I hope not!
As we wrote the list of friends for our anniversary celebration who are part of our 50 year history together, I was poignantly aware that some are no longer here to share this day.
Included in our list are school friends, university mates whom we never lost touch with, our wedding group who are all still well and truly alive and hale and hearty, relatives, colleagues, and our dearest friends old and new.
Organising the day and taking charge of proceedings were our children and partners, now adults with their own responsibilities. They managed it all with flair and style!
This may be called the “autumn of our lives” but we have so much to be grateful for, most particularly our health.
I am always amused by a death notice that says; “Not a cross or angry word in all those years.”
Excuse me? Is that a romantic and unreal memory of that person or is there really someone out there who truly could be so saintly?
I have memories of earlier times when the little brick house at the end of the street looked more appealing than going home.
Come on. Be honest. It isn’t all beer and skittles when it comes to marriage, but nor should it be something that can be walked away from without genuine effort on both sides to repair the hurt and damage.
Try communicating! There are children at stake here and they are at their most vulnerable age. Remember that as you pack your case.
Violence of any type however cannot be excused. That is one excellent reason for leaving.
I don’t need to share the good and annoying characteristics of this man I have lived with for 50 years.
Suffice to say he was a great dad, an honourable and good man, my rock in times of illness. We share the pleasure of listening to music we love, the enjoyment of discussing a great book, a glass of a reasonable red at night with dinner, a good movie and opera from time to time, and we think we are lucky.
Now is our time again, as we have watched our children grow in independence and confidence, and they step away from home to claim the world.
Enjoy that freedom to pursue those interests you have always imagined you might attempt one day. Celebrate those special occasions.
Autumn can sneak up on you, as Dr Seuss so cleverly tells us.