Celebrating 50 Years of Marriage

Celebrating 50 Years!!

On Sunday, June 14th, 2020 we will celebrate our 50th, yes you read it correctly fiftieth wedding anniversary! Ted a.k.a. GT for Gardener Ted, and I have survived living as a married couple for 50 years.

Wait. Wasn't the wedding just yesterday in my home church, Atlanta United Methodist Church, in Atlanta, Illinois? 50 years is a l-o-n-g time.

I remember the weather that day. The wedding ceremony is more of a blur.  Tornadoes swirled through our area, but we were determined to get a tape recorder in place so we could have a keepsake of our wedding. Sounds easy, but as I recall, nothing goes right when you're in a time crunch with a big storm whirling down upon you.

Ted lived four miles away and had to get back home to change into his tux a.k.a. morning suit. However, Mother Nature had other ideas. Torrents of rain and powerful winds greeted us as we opened the church door to leave. We were trapped in the church waiting for a clearing so we could dart out and into our cars to get home and back again before 4:oo pm.

I prayed the storms on our wedding day did not portend a stormy marriage. The good news is the tornadoes did not stop the ceremony or reception in the church basement. As we left on our honeymoon, driving to Champaign, Illinois for our first night as husband and wife, the skies cleared to see a gorgeous sunset through the car's front window. I took this as a promising sign that our life together would be a good one.

 We have weathered many storms for fifty years, but we also had sunny skies and gentle breezes mixed in with those dark days. Isn't that life? We can expect ups and downs. We rejoice through the ups and move on through the downs, knowing we will come out okay, eventually.

June 14, 1970

Okay, I may be prejudiced, but isn't that the cutest guy in this wedding picture? I loved him when I married him, but I love him even more now. It's a mature love, not the rose petals and butterflies kind in our early marriage. Precious love that grows through time.

Okay. I won't get all squishy and teary talking about our marriage. The whole point of this blog post is to explain why I am having a terrible time writing the book dedication for my upcoming memoir, Arranging a Dream. I am dedicating it to Ted. How do I encapsulate 50 years of living into one sentence in the dedication?

Please take a peek at what I have so far, then leave a comment below with any suggestions you have for me. Thank you!!

Dedication to my husband

NEWS UPDATE:

Interview at Michigan author Donald Levin's website.

This week, I'm visiting talented mystery author Donald Levin, a fellow Michigander who is featuring Indie authors on his website. Click here to discover how I know I am truly "famous."

Summer Readers Circle is back!

We are gearing up for the Summer Readers Circle every fourth Thursday through September. Guest authors will share their books and why they wrote them. You are welcome to interact with the author via the comment section. Go ahead and ask away. And yes! There will be gifts awarded during the series. Please join us.

Summer Readers Circle kicks off June 23

Readers Circle Guest Authors

June 23  Diane Bator

July 28   Reed Stirling

Aug 25  Tricia McGill

Sept 22  Helen Henderson

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