Today would have been my
parent’s 65th wedding anniversary.
Or rather, today is my parent’s 65th wedding anniversary.
I’m not sure of the protocol
when one spouse is no longer alive. I
even check online but find no rules to guide me. I decide not to send a card. But I call early this morning.
My mom answers the phone
cheerily, as she always does. She sounds
wonderful. She is. I wish her a happy anniversary, and she thanks
me. I can see her smile.
My parents had a great
marriage. They grew up together; my mom
was only 18 and my dad 25 when they met in the summer of 1948.
As far as I know, there were
never any bad times. Sure, they fought
(my dad could be quite opinionated and did have a volatile temper), but their
fights never lasted for long. Except maybe
one.
Long after my sisters and I had left home, my mom and dad had a fight and didn’t speak for days. It involved a serious topic: gin (as in the game, not the drink).
My dad thought my mom was insensitive to her always winning. My mom is an excellent card player (she has an uncanny ability to remember every single card played, and, she is very lucky). My mom never gets upset at losing — maybe because she rarely does. And, she has this this habit of saying, “I could use a card right here,” as she points to a place in the hand she is holding. Far too often she then picks that exact card. And then she’ll get all excited and giggly. I think it’s cute; my dad didn’t. My mom’s luck in cards was hard for my dad to accept. Other than that, my dad loved everything about my mom, as she did of him (except maybe for his need to be right within the walls of his girl-only home).
My dad thought my mom was insensitive to her always winning. My mom is an excellent card player (she has an uncanny ability to remember every single card played, and, she is very lucky). My mom never gets upset at losing — maybe because she rarely does. And, she has this this habit of saying, “I could use a card right here,” as she points to a place in the hand she is holding. Far too often she then picks that exact card. And then she’ll get all excited and giggly. I think it’s cute; my dad didn’t. My mom’s luck in cards was hard for my dad to accept. Other than that, my dad loved everything about my mom, as she did of him (except maybe for his need to be right within the walls of his girl-only home).
The hair and styles changed
through their lifetime together, but not much else.
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| family photo, circa 1963 |
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| surprise 25th, April 1974 |
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| summer of 1977 |
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| summer of 1982 |
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| my mom's 65th, september 1994 |
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| 50th anniversary, April 1999 |
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| summer 2005 |
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| summer 2012 |
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