A Golden Celebration

"A good marriage is one which allows for change and growth in the individuals and in the way they express their love."
Pearl S. Buck

October 12, 1957, my parents pledged to love, honor and cherish one another until death do they part. They have kept this promise to one another for 50 years now. Throughout my life, I have been blessed and have had the good fortune of living in a household with a couple who truly love and cherish one another. My parents have always given one another the room to grow and succeed in their interests and each is the others biggest supporter.

I have many fond memories of the love my parents have shown to one another and how their commitment to each other was taught to us through example. I carry into my adult years memories of my father and mother hugging and kissing one another, dancing, singing and enjoying each other's company. They put their relationship in a place of importance and each year, around their anniversary, they took a trip to Bermuda to honor their marriage. Growing up, I believed that every one's parents were this way. It wasn't until I was much older that I came to understand how blessed I truly was.

So this past weekend, we gathered with family, aunts, uncles, cousins and friends and celebrated this truly special anniversary.

My older sister spent many hours putting together a beautiful scrap book filled with pictures of my parents, our family, their friends and past times. It will be a book I know my mom and dad will cherish. She and my younger sister made it all possible with the countless hours of creating table gifts, ordering the cake, compiling the list of guests and their meal choices and coordinating the rest of us! To them I say THANK YOU!

My oldest brother acted as officiant and stood with my parents and their best friends as they renewed their wedding vows to one another.
I listened to my mother reading her vows to my father and felt the love they share emanating through the room filled with those closest to them.

My parents have shared 50 years of working together, sharing, compromising, being flexible, negotiating with one another, raising 5 children (which wasn't always easy on them!) and most of all loving one another..... and as my brother said, may they share another 50 years together. May we all be someday just as blessed.