I am reminded, the date is in my ring, that it was 38 years ago today I got married. Back then we didn’t have worries or cares. Our list of commitments were only to each other. We were fortunate in that we were debt free. We were unfortunate that we had no money, but we didn’t care. In fact we really didn’t know we didn’t have anything nice, like kids today.
The first 7 months we lived in “married student housing” as I finished up my last semester. We had it all planned and figured we had it all paid for. We had part time jobs and I had a guaranteed job when I graduated. We made a little money that paid the bills and we didn’t need anything more. It was simple then.
On this day, 38 years ago, we had a huge big wedding. My best man and I had worked out a good plan and the car was hidden well. Probably too well, as the attendees that would have decorated us had all the right supplies but lost track of time and when we dashed out, most of them were caught un-aware. Yes we got pelted with the “new” farmers version of rice (wheat) but we were happy. We were off, they were left staring as none had agreed on who would have chase cars… we got to our hidden car and we were off with only a handful of the crew that caught up as we were ready to leave and they had forgotten to bring the “stuff”. Now that was funny they all just stood there and waved.
We headed west, a direction that we would again journey in 18 months to make a home. I guess we were in wonder of the mountains and that was our goal. The first day we got half way before we decided to stop. It was not a romantic spot but we didn’t care. We didn’t get the newly wed suite, but we didn’t care. We also had a NOT romantic first meal – KFC, but we didn’t care.
It was our goal and plan to just enjoy what came our way and stick it out any way we could. I think it has turned out ok, because we have stayed together through 9 moves and 2 kids. We have lived apart a lot of this time as my job has been overly demanding of my time. She had to deal with the kid alone many times. We lived on little. We had to plan every expense the first 20+ years. We have lived for extended times in camp trailers, close quarters and been frozen out. Through all this we have stuck it out.
Not all our dreams have come true and we have many regrets for poor decisions we have made, but we all make mistakes and that makes us stronger if we can get through that, learn from that, and move on. It is much easier when you have a partner to hold you up when you need holding. My only hope now is that we can make it another 38 as we have many more things to see and do. I am also extremely comfortable with my partner for life. I think she made a good choice and I am glad she did. – REX