Sweetheart and I went to an anniversary party a couple of weeks ago.
It wasn't an ordinary anniversary party. The couple had been married for 68 years! There aren't a lot of couples who can make that claim.
Well, it was a big shindig. There were more than 100 people there. The couple had a band and people danced to the music. There was lots of good food. I just love parties where there are lots of people and good food, as well as singing and dancing.
In fact, the host conducted a square dance. That is my kind of dancing. It was a hoedown, not western-stye, that kind that a person needs lessons for. In fact, Sweetheart and I took lessons for western-style dancing shortly after we met, but, as Sweetheart likes to say, we took the lessons, but they didn't take us. In other words, we didn't stick with it. I think hoedowns are the best.
But, I digress.
Sweetheart and I were talking recently about a couple who said they were married for 93 years! The husband said he had been married to his first wife for 25 years. He was married to his second wife for 10 years and has been married to his present wife for 10 years. That makes 45 years.
The wife said she had been married to her first husband for 38 years and to her current husband for 10 years. That makes 48 years. When you add them all together it comes up to 93 years.
Sweetheart and I thought it was okay for each of them to count the 10 years they were married to each other, but should they be added twice, since they were adding them up as a couple? Or, maybe, they shouldn't have counted the years that they were married to someone else. Either way, it was a lot of years.
It was kind of cheating, though, to get that number. However, it's not about the years you've been married, but how the marriage has affected your years.
Obviously, it takes a lot of love, courage, wisdom and determination to stick with something for 68 years--especially marriage. But, it takes all of those things to stick with it for 93 years, too, no matter how you add them up.
There certainly must have been challenges in those previous marriages--some that were just too much to handle. However, it took a lot of love and courage to put those challenges behind them and have the faith to start over. I give them a lot of credit.
Maybe, that couple wasn't cheating with their math, after all.
Dorothy is the author of two books—“Miles and Miracles” and “Getting It All Together “. You can purchase a book or make a comment by emailing her at dorothybutzknight@gmail.com