The Big 50th

Where has the time gone? Next month dad and I will have been married fifty yrs.
Thats almost three forths my life! These are the winding down yrs. of our life together now. The second half will be different from the first for we aren't getting any younger. We can only forcus on being positive and hope for the best as the older yrs. set in.
So here we are, I at the young age of nineteen and dad twenty . Wow,time went fast. now days not too many marriages make it this far . Its easy to look around and to see people our age into their second marriage and even their third. Just last yr. my neighbor up and divorced and she was in her fifties. Now she is engaged to be married again. So what have we learned from watching our neighbors and friends with good and failing marriages ? Well, marriage takes work!! First we have to realize we are individuals, different in the lots of ways and think different, we have to except those differences. Sure , its not always easy and can even be a challenge at times but you know each other well and that is a plus. To start over I think would be even harder.
This is my key to a lasting marriage: To keep it going you have to recall those early days when it was just [you and me against the world ]then remember, and remember again,
all that was shared that was good. thats it!
I look back and for the most part, it was good. Sure, a few problems we couldn't see eye to eye on at times but for the most part we worked through it together trying to make things right.
I think we both tried to make the other one feel good about what they did in the day to day routine of running a home and family. Dad helped with chores, babies , everyday routine stuff.
I was a stay at home mom which wasn't a strange thing back then. I spent my days caring for the kids so when dad came home it was a welcome sight.
I remember hanging out with moms in the neighborhood who were doing the same things I was doing, = cleaning , washing, cooking and strolling babies and most of us didn't even give it a thought to be working outside the home.
Now that has all changed ,today it takes mom and dad both working to make ends meet.
I have to say here that having a best friend was also part of what made those days flow by easily. That friend for me was Betty Stackhouse. During our early years in the navy, Betty and I were not only neighbors but best friends. Lucky enough to live a block from each other we found ourselves spending near everyday together hanging out with our two babies, Valerie and Ricky . We had fun together , we laughed while learning to cook together and all the new stuff a young bride goes through with having a home and a baby to care for. Betty and I became best friends, even lifetime friends! perhaps our days would have been more routine, hum drum even if we hadn't had one another. but no , we had such great fun just passing the day together! Where have the yrs. gone?? Well, they were spent living , loving, raising children , and oh yes, making memories! mama