Today someone asked me what 25 years of marriage felt like. There is no way I could answer that in a quick sentence. Here is the more complete answer. I hope to update this at 50 years!
Dinners- Date nights
- Saying goodnight and I love you to the same person 9,125 times.
- Saying I love you to the same man 36,000 times
- Rarely going to bed alone
- Sometimes going to bed lonely, angry and sad- but more often going to bed feeling lucky that this man still comes to bed with me every night
- Pregnancies
- Christina, Sarah, Anne Mary, David, Daniel, and Rebecca. All my loves.
- Grandchildren Autumn and Logan
- Babies we lost
- We’re exciting and boring
- 2 Cruises
- Cheap hotels
- Work trips
- Countless day trips
- Slow trips
- Long trips
- 40 snow days
- 6 children
- Car sick children
- Healthy babies
- Sick children
- 17 Emergency room trips
- Nebulizer treatments
- Baseball games
- Cooking, cleaning and paying the bills
- Worrying about paying the bills
- Knowing who to call if there’s a flat tire, a job offer, a raise, a wreck
- Funerals
- Weddings
- Jobs, lots of jobs
- Mission trips
- Bible study
- Learning about Jesus
- Accepting Christ
- Loving our parents
- Getting to know each other and compensating for one another’s shortcomings
- Married friends
- Old cars, new cars, truck, vans, 15 passenger van
- A garage full of bikes and junk
- Wheat. Lots of wheat
- The ocean
- The mountains
- The beach
- Roller coasters
- Cutting the grass
- Tilling the garden
- Weeding the garden
- Finding snakes
- Music
- Ultrasounds
- Doctor’s visits
- Playing
- Laughter
- Showers together
- Swimming
- Teaching
- Learning
- Praying
- Crying
- Aging
- Graying hair
- Secrets
- Movies and board games
- Marathon scrabble sessions
- Accepting one another’s differences
- Racquetball, basketball, volleyball
- Flowers when they are not expected
- Gas in the car
- Car repairs
- Thinning hair
- Thicker waistlines
- It’s backaches and back rubs
- It’s fights, big ones, little ones and the ones in between
- It’s fighting for each other more than we fight each other
- Giving up the fight for the greater good
- Fighting for what’s important
- Figuring out what’s important.
- Unspeakable joy
- It’s seeing signs of your husband in every little face born in your family
- It’s long running jokes about absolutely everything
- It’s Our Song. It’s ALL of our songs.
- Movie music
- Disney movies we’ve loved…..and hated.
- Netflix marathons
- Jamming in the car and music mixes.
- Old couches, old furniture, new paint, wood floors and big back yards
- Books and computers, cell phones and laptops.
- Late nights working
- Late nights talking
- Late nights making love with the same man for 25 years.
I wish I could adequately describe this married life. But I know I can’t. I am giving up.
But what I will say: I can’t wait to do 50 more years of life with Duncan Russell. He makes my heart beat fast. He loves me and loves our children like Christ loves the church. He is my best friend, and often the only one whose opinion matters. I am so glad he is my faithful, loving husband, my lover, my co-worker in the kingdom. Happy Anniversary, Duncan.
