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Anniversary Grace
The electric frying pan and coffeepot have gone to appliance heaven, but 50 years after our wedding, we still use a Corningware casserole, metal mixing bowls and aluminum cookware that were opened on our wedding day. We still have a blue-flowered blanket, a Fostoria serving bowl (used twice) and a picture of Jesus. And we still have each other.
Our wedding was in January, right after a real North Dakota blizzard. When I woke that morning in my parents’ home, the sun was shining and the window glowed with Jack Frost’s artwork. The bright sky seemed like a good sign.
My dad was sitting at the kitchen table when I wandered out. He said, “Well, I guess I’ll go to the wedding.” It still makes me tear up to think how much he must have wanted to walk his youngest daughter down the aisle. Dad had a stroke when I was 16 and things hadn’t gone well for him since then. On my wedding day, he was just out of the hospital and extremely frail. I had expected my oldest brother to do the honors.
Meanwhile, the groom was braving the not-plowed-out roads to Oakes, 25 miles away, to pick up the flowers for the wedding. He made it to the church early, with fresh, not frozen, flowers. That was feat in his little red ’65 Mustang. Although the sun was out, the snow was piled high and the thermometer hovered near 30 below.
We had a small wedding. That meant that our parents, 15 of our 17 siblings, their families, my nearby aunts, uncles and cousins, and a smattering of friends were there. I remember walking up the aisle with Dad and how we helped keep each other steady. The little brown brick church was a warm place to say our vows.
Later, we signed the marriage certificate and that’s when I learned my new husband’s real middle name. Then we strolled next door to the reception in the church hall. Larry’s family supplied the ham and homemade wedding kuchen. My family supplied the buns and wedding cake, baked at Elmer’s Bakery where my mother worked. In a corner of the hall, our sisters unwrapped the wedding gifts. And then to my utter frustration, my brothers stole me and drove around town in my parents old gray Chevy. For those who don’t live in North Dakota, stealing the bride away from the groom is an old tradition.
Fifty years later, here we are. At the time, I really couldn’t see past the first few days of marriage and only knew how nice it would be to wake up together each morning. I certainly didn’t consider spending 50 years together. In fact, I didn’t know anyone who had reached their golden anniversary. Life was less predictable then, healthcare less advanced and the odds of reaching that summit were against most people. Today, many of our friends are reaching the rarified air of this mountaintop experience.
The wedding vows made when you are young and naïve take on new meaning when your marriage spans decades. For better, for worse. We’ve had whole seasons that were awesome and whole seasons that were…worse. For richer, for poorer. In sickness and in health. We’ve done it all, except for death do us part. We hope to wait a while on that one.
But we haven’t done it alone. We have a Friend who has been part of our marriage from the beginning. Even on our short honeymoon, we attended church, and some of our best moments have been when we’ve prayed together.
We’ve also had friends and family who helped us over the rough spots, who spoke encouraging words and led by example. To all of them we say thank you. My bridesmaid reads this blog, and to her I say thank you for a lifetime of friendship. Larry’s best man died last year, but the last time we visited with him he begged us to appreciate each other and cherish each day. His wife was gone, his days were numbered, and his wisdom flowed like a fountain.
Our 40th anniversary photo
No doubt, some readers will wonder how we are celebrating this golden anniversary. We did the big dinner at the country club for our 40th and once was enough. But we are celebrating. Friends have already taken us to dinner, and on the anniversary date we will dine at a nice restaurant with our two sons, daughter-in-law and three grandsons. We’ll look through our wedding book and watch the DVD of our 40th anniversary celebration. It is enough.
May God bless you in 2017. Here is a special verse for the new year from Isaiah 43: 19: See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland. (New International Version)
Let’s ask the Lord to do a new thing in our lives this year, and then expect it! He has the power…to help two green kids through 50 years of marriage…and the power to help us find the grace, peace and joy promised those who ask Him into their hearts.