Wow, it’s my parents’ 35th wedding anniversary today.
Actually, this is the first of two wedding anniversaries. The crazy kids eloped in a very non-Britney/Nicky Hilton-like way while they were on a weekend road trip to Vegas long ago, and they ended up having a traditional Catholic ceremony a couple of months later (which was quite a relief to me when I found out, considering I was born nine months after that!). My dad likes to joke that my mom forced him to do it. Hard to believe, especially since my mom tends to be the quiet and conservative half of the couple, but I actually think it’s a bit romantic. They had only been dating for a few months, my dad just bought a new car, and they wanted to take it out for a spin. Little did they know…?
It’s amazing to me that stuff like that happens even to this day (again, not referring to the celebrity tabloid unions). It definitely was a different time way back when, values were, well, valued and held in high regard, people tended to commit more easily, and although it’s been quite a tumultuous marriage for them, I respect the friendship, love, strength, patience, tolerance, sacrifices and humor that my folks exert on a day-to-day basis to make our family work as best as it can…. a ton of work and I’m sure I don’t even know the half of it!
Happy anniversary, Mom and Dad.