Filed under love
Filed under love
“Marriage is an alliance entered into by a man who can’t sleep with the window shut, and a woman who can’t sleep with the window open.” ~ George Bernard Shaw
“Marriage is the alliance of two people, one of whom never remembers birthdays and the other who never forgets them.” ~ Ogden Nash
“Marriage resembles a pair of shears, so joined that they cannot be separated; often moving in opposite directions, yet always punishing anyone who comes between them.” ~ Sydney Smith
Sometimes I wonder if men and women really suit each other. Perhaps they should live next door and just visit now and then. Katharine Hepburn
The concept of two people living together for 25 years without a serious dispute suggests a lack of spirit only to be admired in sheep. A. P. Herbert
We had a quiet celebration yesterday. Last night our wonderful neighbors in the valley put on a beautiful display of fireworks. They don’t know how much I look forward to it. :0)
Independence Day was my father’s favorite holiday. He used to get a whole double-armful of ‘ladyfingers’ that were all tied together. You were supposed to untie each one and set it off. My dad would light the one on one end, then throw the whole bunch into the yard. Each went off with a bang, making the whole bunch jump with non-stop bangs. The group jumped all over the yard by the time it was finished. He would stand there watching with a huge grin on his face.
He had a challenging couple of years the result of which was that his vision was mostly gone. (My mom laboriously copied the cryptoquote from the newspaper onto a huge piece of paper with a sharpie so that he could try to work it every day.)
In preparation for the holiday, he had bought the usual fireworks he loved, including some ones for after dark. My husband and I were dating, and we all had dinner together, my dad having grill chicken quarters outside. My husband picked up the mantle without a word, setting off the fireworks for all of us, having my dad ‘choose’ which one was next. Of course, the celebration started with the ladyfinger ‘detonation.’ We followed that with my favorite ‘snakes’ and ‘sparklers.’
Finally, my husband set off the night ones, one at a time, with my dad choosing the order. It was super hot that year, and I brought out a wet washcloth so my husband could mop his face. When the display was finished, my dad had tears quietly rolling down his face as he smiled. He stood up, put his hand out in thanks to my husband, then pulled him in for a hug.
If I hadn’t already decided my husband was the one, that would have sealed the deal.
Have a love-filled celebration today.
We celebrated our 52nd wedding anniversary yesterday. We certainly have no wise words about marriage, other than the simple fact that when you marry someone, you’re promising to share your LIVES with each other – in good times and bad. It’s a work in progress that involves thinking about the other person first, and nurturing your union each and every day.
Here are some quotes I like about marriage –
Don’t marry the person you think you can live with; marry only the individual you think you can’t live without. ~James C. Dobson
What counts in making a happy marriage is not so much how compatible you are, but how you deal with incompatibility. ~George Levinger
Often the difference between a successful marriage and a mediocre one consists of leaving about three or four things a day unsaid. ~Harlan Miller
I figure that the degree of difficulty in combining two lives ranks somewhere between rerouting a hurricane and finding a parking place in downtown Manhattan. ~Claire Cloninger
A wedding anniversary is the celebration of love, trust, partnership, tolerance and tenacity. The order varies for any given year. ~Paul Sweeney
A long marriage is two people trying to dance a duet and two solos at the same time. ~Anne Taylor Fleming
Sometimes I wonder if men and women really suit each other. Perhaps they should live next door and just visit now and then. Katharine Hepburn
The secret of a happy marriage remains a secret. Henny Youngman
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Yesterday we celebrated the FIRST 52 years by sharing a seafood platter at The Dari. Today we begin the SECOND 52!
He came home and they went to college – he at the University of Tulsa and she at Oklahoma State University. When she had one semester left of practice teaching, they married – June 14, 1969.
Today we celebrate sharing our lives for 52 years, and we haven’t killed each other! He asked me for another 52 years, and, in a moment of weakness, I said. “Let’s do it!”
We have a pretty good start now. We will enjoy sharing a seafood platter tonight in quiet celebration.
Filed under Cause for Celebration, Family, love, marriage
Filed under Stone/Pebble Art
I hope this special day is a good one for you and your family. May you be surrounded with love, peace, and hope for the future.
Can you see me grinning?
I just enjoyed an ALMOST perfect beginning to my day.
Our son lives and works in Thailand. Before he left years ago, he set up a secure chat program for us to use, plus a secure video chat program. He is a really good communicator, so I can almost forget that he is across the world from us.
This morning we not only used the chat program, but switched to the video program. I got to see his wonderful face, and watched him smile and laugh. My heart simply filled. My husband came in and said “Hi.” Our son thought he looked “handsome.” :0)
We had such a good visit. The only thing that would have made it perfect was one of his hugs. As far as I am concerned, he gives the best hugs on the planet. If I don’t squeeze him hard enough, he lets me know. They make me cry they are so good, healing all the little places that could use a little love.
I hope that you are close to your kids – geographically or with good communication.
Beyond priceless.
Thanks to a friend for forwarded email with these wonderful photos.
Filed under Amazing Animals, Friendship, hope, love
Thanks to a friend’s forwarded email for these wonderful images.
Filed under Amazing Animals, hope, love
Thanks to a good friend who forwarded these wonderful photos to me.
Filed under Amazing Animals, Friendship, hope, love
Photos forwarded by friend
Filed under Amazing Animals, Friendship, hope, love
Thanks for a friend’s forwarded email.
Filed under Amazing Animals, hope, love
Merry Christmas! I hope you’re enjoying a safe and love-filled day.
My Christmas memories are filling me up and spilling out today.
Favorite childhood Christmases include the one where I received the most gorgeous, soft, pink, furry, FEMININE sweater I’ve ever had. Another was when my brother and I received 3-speed bicycles called English racers. One of the most cherished memories is the Christmas caroling that started at our house each year. We gathered neighbors at each house, singing and laughing, freezing our parts off, ending with hot chocolate and cookies at home when we were finished.
My husband’s and my first Christmas together was in 1969. Our very best Christmas present was our son, born in December of 1978. The next was December of 1980 when our daughter was born. Today we are celebrating our 51st Christmas together. It’s just the two of us this year, but we are very grateful to be together. We talked to our son in Thailand on our chat program this morning.
This has been a challenging year for us all. I hope that you are staying safe and well, surrounded by love however you can manage it.
Our son is 42 today. He lives in Thailand and there is 12 hours time difference, so I sent him birthday wishes last night before I went to bed and then chatted with him real-time this morning. (He was up late trying to finish up a computer project for a client.)
Brian is our only living child. (Our daughter, Jade, died at two months old due to SIDS.) We feel very lucky that Brian is such a good communicator. I can almost forget that he is across the world from us. He set up a secure chat program so that we can communicate on almost a daily basis. We send pictures and videos, leave messages, chat real-time, etc. We communicate more than some people do with their kids who live in the same city.
I miss two things since he lives so far away:
THING ONE – His truly amazing sense of humor. He gets into it, making me laugh, adding to it with gestures, and finally getting up, adding more and more until I’m laughing so hard my stomach hurts. I have to beg him to stop and then rest awhile. :0)
THING TWO – He gives the best hugs in the world. He doesn’t give just a one-armed hug with a quick pat. He envelopes me, hugging me really tightly – asking me to hug him tighter – and really squeezes. We create so much love it makes me cry.
Happy, happy birthday to Brian – a man who is better than his parents ever thought of being – who makes us proud of the kind, caring person he is.
We will celebrate our 52nd wedding anniversary in June. As we age, our lives become more complicated – some things much more difficult – but we both feel we will never get enough.
He wants to get a Subway roast beef sandwich for lunch. I am making spaghetti for dinner with a pineapple upside down cake – his favorite – as his birthday cake.
Our son called him from Thailand this morning – the best of surprises. I’m am doing all I can to make this a very happy day for him.
A.A. Milne
“Love is taking a few steps backward – maybe even more – to give way to the happiness of the person you love.”
Filed under Favorite Quotes, Poohisms
June 14, 1969 – 51 years ago today – my husband and I made the promise to share the rest of our lives. Both sets of parents thought we were making a mistake. We happily made the promises anyway, ‘riding off into the sunset’ together, our whole lives ahead of us.
51 years later, we are still going strong.
Marriage is one of the most important promises you will ever make. It’s the hardest job you will ever have. It’s an evolving work-in-progress that will sometimes require more than you think you have to give. Merging two lives is difficult, to say the least. You will grow and change, and hopefully continue to build a stronger and stronger bond as the years pass. It’s a union that will bring some of the very best moments you will have in your life. Bad things will happen, but you are stronger together than either of you is alone. Sometimes you will feel so close your heart spills over. Other times you want to bite each other in the leg. If you each feel that you are giving 150%, it is probably coming out pretty even. In some ways, I can’t believe it has been 51 years (‘officially’, my husband says, since we dated for 8 years before marrying.) In other ways, it seems we have ALWAYS been halves of a stronger whole.
Last year, on our 50th anniversary, my husband said we had a good start, but that he wanted another 50 years. I have told him that I will do everything in my power to give that to him. We don’t know what is in store in the future, but we will face whatever comes together.
Filed under Cause for Celebration, Family, love, marriage
Jeannett Antonie Overby via Penny Yaffe Krakow
Filed under Encouragement, Health Alert, love
My husband has lived with me for over 50 years now. He describes me as, “Mean as a snake.”
Grunge
As he has lived with me so long, he probably has a point. I hope, though, that if I AM as mean as a snake, I’m pretty like this one. :0)
AND on our last anniversary in June, he DID ask me to spend ANOTHER 50 years with him. I guess he really LIKES snakes….
Vector Stock
This is an image of how I look and feel right now – I have melted into a puddle. Here’s why –
We just got home from running errands. We opened the mail at the dining area table as we usually do. My husband opened one of the packages. He had ordered another tee shirt. Usually the tees are gun-related or cartoon characters. (He has toned down buying the political ones that might get us attacked, and also the slightly pornographic ones…. )
Anyway, I expected another gun-related tee. He turned it around –
I hugged him, then hugged him again, thanking him for the nice surprise. He said, “It’s the truth.” That got him ANOTHER hug.
I then went to start gathering trash for the week. I came back into the dining area. He had changed into the tee.
I said, “You changed your shirt.”
And he replied,
“You changed my life.”
NOW you understand why my husband is a keeper (even though he drives me NUTS at times) and why my self portrait for the day is a melted puddle.
Filed under love, quality of life
Beautiful World
Sri Lanka Frogmouth Birds – Belal Moheb
Beautiful World
Beautiful World
Birds and Blooms Unlimited
doves – source unknown
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