28 years together, and going strong

George & I have been married 28 years today. Goodness, where did the time go?

We met in July of 1981, and got engaged just 3 months later.

Bit of advice! If you ever pull a stunt like that - don't tell your kids. Jessica & Kevin delight in rubbing that fact in any chance they get. Especially if we try to tell them to take their time on something.

But...we didn't get married until April 2, 1983, a year and a half later. So, we may have been engaged, but we still had plenty of time to change our minds! Not that we wanted to.

We didn't have much money, but that was ok. Young...poor...in love. Knowing nothing was more important than being together.

We had a wonderful honeymoon in the mountains of WV, staying in a little motel. 25 years later, we vacationed in the same mountains, only this time Jessica, her boyfriend Brian (now her husband) and Kevin were with us.

In 1983, I'm not sure if we had even heard of the internet. In 2008, I used the internet to plan our vacation. I looked up the motel we had honeymooned in. I found some very unflattering reviews, including one that said, "our stay there was the vacation from hell".

I guess 25 years can make a difference. I'm glad our marriage held up better than that!

We ended up staying at the Blackwater Lodge, where Jessica took this picture of us.

How are we spending our anniversary? Apart! Well, we had a little time together this morning, but then I went to work, and when I get home, he will be at work.

At least we were able to go out for dinner last night to celebrate. That hasn't always been the case. Somehow our anniversaries seem to invite trouble.

One year the toilet at the store picked that day to more or less explode, so that evening was spent frantically buying and installing a new one, and cleaning up from the old one.

That was romantic.

For our 25th, we waited till October to take an anniversary trip. On our way there, we stopped at Jessica and Brian's for a couple days. While there, we got the frantic phone call that Kevin had been stung and was in the ER. Turns out he is severely allergic to bees, and he almost died. Needless to say, we didn't take the rest of the anniversary trip. Maybe for our 30th.

So.....our anniversary celebrations don't always turn out like a fairy tale. Oh well...our marriage is strong, and we look forward to more time together. Jessica paid us quite the compliment a few days ago when she told her dad & I that she thought we had the ideal marriage. We were flattered...and humbled.

Is our marriage ideal? Well, I know he's ideal for me, and he says I'm ideal for him.

In this day of easy divorces, what makes our marriage work? Well, among other things....
We made a conscience decision to make God the head of our home.
We laugh with each other. A lot.
We respect each other. A lot.
We say I love you. A lot.
And mean it.

Happy Anniversary George! And hey, I loved your poem you recited to me this morning.

In case you have an anniversary coming up, and are in need of a poem, feel free to use George's.

It's quite original.

Roses are red.
Violets are blue.
It's been 28 years.
And I still love you.

Ahh, he's a true romantic!