As impossible as it seems, Friday Mary and I will celebrate our 50th wedding anniversary! Where has the time gone? I remember as a kid and young man seeing pictures of couples who were married 50 years; they always looked so old! Now, believe me, Mary and I do not look old enough to be celebrating 50 years, well, Mary doesn’t!
I met Mary during my first year in medical school; she had her degree in Medical Technology and worked for Dr. Cunningham who taught Histology. We became engaged after school was out and married that fall before school started. Her mother was not very excited about the wedding, after all we had only known each other for about 6 months. But, we did not want to wait until the next summer, and getting married during the school year was not possible.
Except for $68, a couple of boxes of books, and some old clothes, I was flat broke when we married. Mary worked the first year, we borrowed money, I worked when ever I could, but mostly Mary’s mother Emma, helped us. With out her generosity we would have been in real trouble.
We had not planned on having kids right away, but our oldest son was born just 9 months after we were married (a time allotment of great importance in those days). Seventeen months after that along came our second son followed in less than 15 months by a third. By that time we had learned what was causing these blessings and our daughter wasn’t born until three and a half years later.
In spite of it all, everything turned out great!! Some times even I make the right decision! Mary has been my support, my strength, the woman I most admire, and my best friend! What a phenomenal blessing!
Did we worry about our future? A little, Mary worried more than I did, but that wouldn’t have been much. I was going to be a physician, and everything would work out! At least that was my plan. And it has!
So many times I have told Mary and others that I just can’t believe how well it has worked. We are by no means rich, pediatricians don’t make much money, but we have had lots of fun. One of my gynecology friends once asked me how I could have gone into peds when other doctors make so much more. I told her I never once thought about how much money I would make. I just wanted to take care of families and their kids. And to be honest, I didn’t know how much money any doctors made. I felt they all did OK, and that was it.
The blessings that Mary and I have received seem unlimited. We did not have to worry about any of or kids when they were teens; not one night did we fret. They were outstanding kids in every sense of the word and we are now so blessed that our grand kids are turning out just like them. Maybe the country singer is right, to paraphrase, “God is great, Life is good, and I’m crazy”. If so, I’m crazy in love, and crazy over all the fun I have had these past 5 decades.
So, this weekend we will be celebrating and thanking God for all of His gifts He has sent us these past 50 years. Don’t look for a post before Monday; I’ll not have time to put one together. Say a prayer that our health and the health of our kids and our country continues to be good, and that we can enjoy more years together. I will say a prayer that you too, can celebrate many years with your spouse and enjoy every year.