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40 Years and Counting…

Today is my 40th wedding anniversary. There was a time when I thought I would never get to say that, not because we weren’t getting along or anything, but because of my husband’s heart issues. So I am beyond grateful to have had all these years with the best man I know.

I thought I would challenge myself to come up with 40 reasons why my marriage has lasted. In no particular order…

1. We love one another
2. We say “I love you” pretty much every day
3. We always kiss hello and goodbye
4. We communicate regularly throughout the day
5. We treat each other with respect
6. He has made me laugh pretty much every day since we’ve been together – over 46 years!
7. We share similar values & morals
8. We often hold hands
9. Our world revolves around one another and our children
10. He is a wonderful son (how a man treats his mother is a good yardstick)
11 He was an amazing son-in-law; my step-dad was his best friend
12. His thoughtfulness continues to amaze me and he is always considerate of my feelings
13. He is a wonderful father, which I can now see reflected in how our son is with his son
14. We have separate interests; he rarely reads a book anymore and I read a book a day; he loves hiking in the Everglades. I went once, it rained and the tent leaked. That was it for me
15. We both like car camping!
16. We both love the beach
17. We both love his Jeep, especially taking the top off and driving down A1A (next to the beach)
18. My mom used to say that we complement each other, and she was right
19. He has been incredibly supportive of whatever I want to do. I was a stay-at-home mom for 12 years, then I got a job at Borders with crazy hours, got a job at the library, went back to college then library school. He has supported me – financially, emotionally – through all of it
20. We like some of the same TV shows and movies, but I love rom-coms and he rarely watches those. He loves sci-fi and I rarely watch those. Doesn’t matter
21. We both watch a lot of MSNBC & read lots of news and discuss
22 We have similar political beliefs
23. I am a spender and he is a saver; it works for us
24. He’s calm and laidback; I am not
25. He is really good at helping me rein in my crazy and often does
26. When I’m upset, he can calm me down; I try to do the same for him
27. While we are not the same religion, he has always been incredibly supportive, even though it’s not what he believes
28. He can fix pretty much anything, and I am most appreciative of that
29. He eats whatever I cook and is always kind about it. If he doesn’t like something, he won’t criticize or say anything. I’ve learned to ask, “Do you want me to make that again?” if I want to know the truth
30. We both love good wine and finding new ones to enjoy
31. I used to joke that he married me so he wouldn’t have to answer the phone. Now that we have cell phones, that ship has sailed.
32. He used to joke that he married me because I talk enough for the both of us. He still doesn’t talk as much as I do, but he speaks up when it counts
33. We both love Disneyworld
34. We both dream of going back to Italy* (we went for our 3rd anniversary)
35. He carries around my first passport photo, circa 1987ish, in his wallet and swears I still look like that (I do not!)
36. We try very hard not to take each other for granted
37. He never forgets a birthday or anniversary (because I put them on his calendar!)
38. When we met I was 17 and he was 19 – we grew up together
39. He makes me feel cherished every single day
40. He is the love of my life!

*We had planned to spend two weeks in Sicily for our 40th anniversary, but the pandemic put the kibosh on that. Now we have our first grandchild who lives in Brooklyn, so I think all of our vacations are going to be visiting NY to see the baby!

This entry was posted on Friday, June 18th, 2021 at 8:00 AM and is filed under Ramblings. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.