Forty years ago tonight, I made one of the biggest decisions of my life – I married my high school sweetheart, Steve. We started dating when I was only 15 years old. Looking back, I realize what “babes” we were. Yet, I knew then – what I know now – he truly is my “other half.” I’m so thankful that in the Garden of Eden, God created the institution of marriage when He presented Adam with his wife, Eve – to be a helpmeet for him. That is definitely a large part of what has made our marriage work – we still go out of our way to “help” each other. I’ll admit it – he spoils me rotten, but I pray that he feels the same way.
Today, we were in the car and got to talking about why our marriage has lasted, when so many don’t. I looked down and just smiled – we were holding hands. Yes, we still love to hold hands. Years ago, we embarrassed our daughters to death by holding hands in public, but we didn’t care then, and we don’t care now. I guess the time to worry is when we STOP holding hands.
All of our lives together, we have signed each card and note with the phrase, “Love All Ways, Always.” I recently had a sign custom made by M & M Creations which proudly hangs in my living room with this saying.
The word “always” includes when we like each other and when we don’t. It includes when we’re well-rested and when we’re “dog-tired.” It includes when we’re healthy and when we’re extremely ill, when we’ve celebrated the birth of our grandson, and when we’ve mourned the loss of a parent. We’ve lived in four states over the past forty years and have worked with five congregations of the Lord’s church. We’ve gone through good times and bad times, but through it all, we’ve kept holding hands. We vowed forty years ago tonight to love all ways, always. Giving up has never been an option. Now, I’m not going to ever say that we’ve never gone to bed mad at each other – because, oh yeah, we have. But the secret is – to not wake up that way. I wake up every morning, thankful that God has blessed me with this good man.
Thank you, Steve for holding hands with me for over forty years on this earth. “Come grow old along with me, the best is yet to be” (Robert Browning). Simply blessed, Courtney