Happy Anniversary: Postdated

 

Mom and Dad,

Thank you for staying married for 42 long freakin years, even when everything told you to move on, go another way, give up, give in. Your marriage alone, your commitment, loyalty, love for one another, dedication to our family, has left an impression on me that is more profound than any amount of money, gifts, stories and lessons, discipline and rules, guidance or advice (although those things are cool too.) No one ever said marriage was easy, but yours is what it's supposed to be. Enduring, strengthening over time, loving in spite of it all, hunkering down and getting through, and rising up to meet at the end, better, stronger, shaped and curved, like driftwood floating on a rocky current, smooth, graceful and sturdy after it's all said and done, resting peacefully on the sand.