Fifty Years Of Marriage

Fifty Years of Marriage and Counting.

Yesterday we were looking at old pictures of ourselves with a car we still own, a collector car. The car still looks the same, but I hardly recognized us. Things remain the same, yet people are always changing- sometimes for better, sometimes not so well. We had arms looped around each other, a sign of affection; now our arms entwine to hold each other up.

Change is characteristic of human life, life as created by the Lord. Our mind, our heart, our soul reflect our will, our true selves, and reflecting on them gives one insights. Coincidencially, NPR sent out a request for readers to submit a couplet on working. This was my submission:

Fifty years ago we married but we were not in love.
With Christ and working well together, love came from above.

What did we know about marriage, about love? How does one foresee the ups and down of life and love? Commitment for a lifetime?

Like most Catholic couples, our vows were made in front of a priest, before an altar in our church. We were bound and dedicated in a holy place, just as Jesus was dedicated in the temple by his parents. Offering my bouquet to Mary, I too gave an offering of love, of faith. Like Jesus, we too, were infants in human body and human thought. As a new convert, my husband was very aware of his responsibilities to God and his spouse. He conveyed this to me prior to marriage with the message that this would be his work in life. It would be his mission; how could I disagree?

When we first married, we would kneel at night for prayer; now we begin our day with silent prayer sitting side by side at the breakfast table. Our list of intentions during prayer began with few; now sometimes we need a sheet of paper, as our friends are dwindling and health problems seem to multiply each day. In 1968 our future seemed endless; now we beg for eternal life - a life with our creator. Life is a work in progress!

Marriage needs air to breathe freely; water to tread in unsettled times; hills to climb raising children; trees to lose oneself in to hide from fears; rocks to throw at devilish temptations- all potential for a successful life design- all by Love for love. The Master Gardener has planted us where we can bloom and grow.

No one has a perfect life; no one has no sorrows, no momentary lapses, no hidden surprises, no questioning doubts. Sometimes life is like rain-dull, gray and dreary; then there is a break in the clouds and a faint glimmer of a rainbow is seen in the distant sky.

Jewish families went three times a year up to Jerusalem where the temple was located. Here they remembered the covenants made with the Lord. They offered sacrifices; they focused on the Lord and what He had done for them. They wore phylacteries and tassels to remind themselves of His way to remain faithful. Passover was our forerunner to Mass and Holy Week.

One must know of the past to appreciate the present. Therefore, we too, journey 15 miles several times a week for Mass and prayers of adoration. On the road we sometimes say the rosary, once getting a ticket for ignoring the speed limit with our inattention to the road signs. We wear a crucifix, gold now, instead of WWJD bracelets we wore in the eighties. Like the collector car, these are now packed away in a storage shed.

Someone once said. “Begin your life as you want to live your life.” Perhaps the author should have added, “With Christ all things are possible."