65 years ago a boy and girl fell in love. She was 14 and he was 17, about to go into service in the Marine Corps.
That was it, as far as love for anyone else went. We just waited until his next leave from the Marines. I finished junior high, high school, and almost finished college. He got out of the Marines, came and joined me at OSU in Stillwater, Oklahoma, discovered he had used up whatever remained of his patience with the ordinary world and left school. I managed to secure the last semester of my teaching degree in Tulsa, where both of our parents lived, and that was the end of all the waiting.
We married in June of 1969, right after my graduation. We bought a house, I got a job teaching (he already had a good beginning Computer Science job.)
We had our son, Brian, finally, not knowing it would take 10 years to do that. (I had three miscarriages before him and one after.) After almost two years, we had our daughter, Jade, only to lose her two months after birth of SIDS.
We moved to Arkansas, built a home on top of a ridge line that allowed us to feel that we owned all the land we could see. We enjoyed wonderful pets, treasured friends, and more.
We both got sick last February and had to call Brian, who had lived in Thailand for several years, to come help us. We ended up moving to Thailand with him! We were building up our strength from our horrible illnesses, and my sudden health crisis, taking walks with Brian every day here, trying to eat right, enjoying living in the air bnb in the condo building, when Harvey had a stroke and fell. A month in the hospital and now a full month in the nursing home and our lives are very different.
Now we go visit him, hoping he will recognize us each time. He finally does, but he has become very aloof since the stroke. Brief glimpses of the man I married show up from time to time, such as when I asked him what the greatest accomplishment of our marriage had been. He looked at Brian, then at me and said, “Him.”
And so right he is, because Brian has been here though all this, helping us through, making his dad as comfortable as possible while helping me try to build a new life here. Talk about a kind heart and strong shoulders!
Today is a celebration of a boy and girl who have loved each other, so far, for a total of 65 years, 56 years of which they have been married and built a life, memories, and a legacy that will continue long after we are gone.
creativeartworksblog 
Oh my word! I love it!! 🥰 Happy anniversary! Thanks for sharing your photos and your story! I’m so sorry about your miscarriages and about dear little Jade! I wish this hadn’t happened to Harvey but I’m glad the three of you have each other in your new home! Now, if only you had a photo of you and Harvey riding the motorcycle together…🤔🏍️🥰
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I’m delighted you liked the post. We haven’t downloaded Family Treemaker to my computer yet. When we do, I’ll see if we have a pic of the two of us on the motorcycle. We went everywhere on that for years, but back then, we didn’t have a lot of people to take photos for us. Fingers crossed. Thank you for the anniversary wishes. 🤗
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🥰🥰
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😍
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Wow! What a beautiful and sad story. So much sadness, and yet you continue to find so much joy in your life. You could easily have chosen bitterness, but you chose to go on and find happiness in your life. You are a very strong, kind, caring and compassionate person. It sounds like your son is so much like his Mom.
Great pictures of you and your husband.
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I’m glad you enjoyed the pics and the post. Thanks, also, for your kind words about me. “You can’t control the wind, but you can adjust your sails” are wise words attributed to many people. I try to live by them. Thanks so much for writing.
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You really do live those words, Linda! “You can’t control the wind, but you can adjust your sails”
Wow!
What a life you and Harvey have lived!
I am sorry too, about the miscarriages and dear baby Jade passing. Those all seem like such tragic events! I know some people might be devastated, and perhaps you were…at least, for some span of time. But you came to realize you couldn’t change things and went on to live the best life you could! I only really know one other dear friend (she’s from Germany), who did the same. Lived through tragedy and has kept a genuine smile on her face. And been so brave!
So, happy anniversary, dear Linda and Harvey. You have set a wonderful example for Brian and all of us you have shared you life with. ❤️🌷🌸🌺
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Thank you, Sheila. I have been blessed with the strong love of a wonderful man for most of my life. Though I have threatened to call our backhoe man about digging a hole in the back yard and throwing him in it from time to time when he’s been hard to live with, my strength now comes partly from him. I remind myself that one of the times he came through the fog lately, i was remarking that we’ve been married a long time. He looked at me and said, ‘Never long enough.’
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I think I remember you saying that once, about digging the hole.
You did get a keeper in Harvey though.
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True, he’s definitely a keeper (56 years so far) but he HAS had his ‘hole moments…. 🤣
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Life can be challenging but you have managed to remain resilient! Sometimes we go through numerous hurdles, yet some people have the capacity to bounce back and persevere, showing incredible strength and the ability to endure setbacks, emerging even stronger and more determined! 😊
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I am blessed in so many ways. There is something way down inside each of us that can rise up when we’re down the lowest and bring us back up again. It has come to help me several times in my life and I’m in awe of it.
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So, happy anniversary, dear Linda and Harvey. You have set a wonderful example for Brian and all of us you have shared you life with.💐💐💐🌹💐💐 I’m so sorry about your miscarriages and about dear little Jade! God blessing. I have one daughter , born after nine years.
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Frist pic is so pretty looking. Beautiful couples looks looking. How old you that’s? I hope collage life.
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Thank you, Raj. In the first photo, I was 14 years old. Harvey was 17.
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Most welcome , Linda! Beautiful couple image.
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🙂
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