Sunday, June 7, 2009

Words of Wisdom from a Little Old Man

Today is our wedding anniversary and I thought I'd write about one of my favorite conversations ever. It was with a 92 year old man who was a client at a bank I once worked at. His words have always stuck with me.

He had come to the bank to make a deposit, and while I was processing his transaction, he noticed I had an engagement ring on my finger. He asked me about the lucky guy and of course I answered all his questions with the excitement of a newly engaged woman.

Then, he told me (almost tearfully) that he and his wife who had just recently passed, had celebrated their 75th wedding anniversary just a few weeks before she died. I commented on how beautiful that was. His response was priceless. He chuckled and said "well, you know, the first 50 years were a little rough, we were still getting to know each other. But the last 25...they were pure bliss.


And so I look back on our tiny little 7 years, just one tenth of the time, and I can sort of see how that makes sense. The first 5 years were really, really hard. Then the 6th year was a transtional year, now, this 7th year, it has been wonderful. Not perfect- of course not- but truly wonderful. I wonder once we hit 10, will I feel like the first 7 were rough? At 20 will it seem like the first 15? I have a sneaking suspicion it will.

And so, a public "Thank You" to my husband who has worked so hard to be a good husband. Who has practiced patience and perserverance in the face of many significant challenges. And has loved me, just the way I am. Not in an enabling, giver her what she wants or nobody will be happy kind of way, but in a "I want to help you be the very best person you have inside of you" kind of way. And that, I think is true love, because that kind of love requiresa long term commitment to see the project through.


9 comments:

Kristina P. said...

What great words of wisdom!

Happy anniversary, Lisa!

Erin said...

Oh, that is so great! We have been married 11 1/2 and I would say the first 7 were the hardest. So funny how that works!

Happy anniversary to you!

Heather said...

I really like that. Happy Anniversary to you and J.P. hope you guys had a great day.

tammy said...

That is a sweet story. We've been married 17 years and I definitely say the first 10 were the hardest.

Unknown said...

That story is so sweet!

I just celebrated 15 years, and the last 2 have been magical. We had a few bumps here and there, who doesn't? But suddenly we are soaring through life together, and even on the bad days, completely united as a team.

I ♥ it!
♥ Happy Anniversary! ♥

Dawn Parsons Smith said...

Happy Belated Anniversary! What a wonderful story!

Melissa said...

Love it! I feel the same way...we are hitting our 7 year this Dec, and it just feels like we have 'hit our stride.' (Finally!) It's nice that things not only get better with time, they can get soooo awesome with time! Congrats!

Anonymous said...

You know, our first 5-8 years were a little rough. 8-14 were amazingly awesome. Now we're in a little of a dip again. I suppose life is like that. It;s the reason for the "for better and for worse" clause.

Happy late anniversary! Love you.

Just SO said...

I love it. When my dad passed away and we were getting together to write the obituary, it came to the part where we were writing about how long mom and dad were married. They celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary two years before. One of my sisters wanted to put that they had 50 beautiful years together. My mom piped up and said "No way! They weren't all beautiful or wonderful. Some of them were really hard." So we ended up putting that they had recently celebrated their 52nd wedding anniversary.

Mom taught me a lot with that.