Thirty years is a long time. Three decades. 30% of a century.
It is also to the day how long I have been married. On February 21st, 1992 I said “I do” to my best friend and love of my life.
Man, a lot has changed in 30 years. The optimism of 1992 as we came out of the Cold War and into what we thought would be a world marked by peace and freedom has evaporated. The internet wasn’t really even a thing yet for most people. We were living in a pretty nice apartment in a pretty bad neighborhood. Less than 18 months later we would welcome the first of our 8 children into the world.
Since that cold, snowy day in February when my bride had a terrible cold we moved a whole bunch of times, had a bunch of kids, saw ups and downs but always had each other. Some said we were too young to get married with me only being 20 and still in college but despite the doubters and naysayers we have persevered because we believe in each other.
It has rarely been easy and that has almost always been my fault but it has always been worth it.
Congratulations to you and your missus, Arthur. Your story is very familiar (I was 21 at our quaint shotgun wedding, my bride a few years older). I'll bet that many did not think you would survive as a couple, being so young. Yet you did, and so did we, while more than half of all marriages disintegrate all around us.
It's not exactly a mystery why some partnerships thrive while others crash and burn. You get out of it what you put into it, near as I can figure. Sounds like you invested wisely and well.
TBC
Congratulations! Your story is familiar to me, as I was also 20, not out of school yet, and advised heavily that this was NOT a good idea. One difference: instead of February 1992, I stepped off the dock in May 1975. Not only was the internet "not a thing" yet, our single vehicle, a 1970 Dodge Dart (with the mighty slant six!) featured only an AM radio, with mechanical pushbutton tuning.
And if I could go back to then, knowing what I know now, I'd do it in a hot minute. We lived nearly hand-to-mouth, but those were good years. I'm sure it's a good thing that "going back" isn't an option.
Congratulations to you and the Mrs. My wife and I had our 30th anniversary last October. It hasn't been all sunshine and unicorns, but I can't imagine life without that partnership. You two have achieved something very few people in the world achieve, celebrate!
Congratulations to you and the wife ! My wife and I will be celebrating our 30th in August, and it's a second marriage for both of us. Your love has evolved, the world has devolved, but you are each the constant in the other's lives. Enjoy the day !!
Congratulations!
Congratulations.
Admiration for you both.
Congratulations! I hope you get to a 60th anniversary together!
Congratulations, Arthur (and Mrs Arthur).
I and mine also just hit thirty years. We were young then . . . now, not so much.
Such is life.
What really hurts is having been part of the Velvet Revolution, and then watching all that sudden peace, freedom and optimism you wrote of steadily being thrown away. Not lost, or wasted, but deliberately thrown away.
Our governments have now become what their governments were, but with powers that exceed what the communists could ever dream of.
I hope we can impose justice on them in our lifetimes, soon, so that our kids don't have to suffer and fight for it in theirs.
Congrats!