It's quite an accomplishment, I think... I have friends who are already getting divorced after three or four years of marriage. Mom told me only three weeks before her anniversary that she wanted to do this, so, chronic planner that I am, I began to coordinate things... told her to get a caterer, maybe have their rings engraved, asked her to suggest a song for me to sing during the ceremony, talk to their pastor, etc... Mom asked me to make a reel of pictures to show at the reception...
Those pictures are clearer than my memories... and most of them were eaten away by the acid of their old photo album. I was present at their wedding, but all I can recall are these pot-marked pictures. I spent a lot of time cleaning them, adjusting them, adding effects to make them more interesting... this is my favorite:
I think I still have a gift for interrupting serious moments...
My parents were tearing up and smiling... the sorts of smiles that would go on forever if there were more room on the face. I have to admit, I feel like it can't be easy to arrive at your 25th wedding anniversary and smile like that... cry a little and beam like they did... I didn't ask them what their secret is... probably because the concept freaks me out. Daddy has been known to work on as little as two or four hours of sleep more than once in a week. Mom is a teaching assistant at an elementary school and still taking beyond good care of my 19 year old twin brothers. I can't imagine how much grace and acceptance it has taken for my parents in this situation to feel as much for one another as they do today.
Of course, the old saying "distance makes the heart grow fonder" might be part of the explanation, but surely, sometimes, distance is just that and "out of sight out of mind" would have to eventually be a fearful side-effect.
Maybe I will ask them how they did it sometime, but for now I'm going to bask in the awe of their magic... with some hope that I'll discover this sort of voodoo myself.
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