We returned last evening from a month-long stay at the edge of the wilderness, where we secluded ourselves on our 45th wedding anniversary. Of the many beautiful pictures we took, this one touches my soul. It signifies the climb.
Anniversaries, especially wedding, are usually filled with dancing and drinking, eating and social togetherness. We chose to go away by ourselves and quietly think back on all we've been through...side by side.
Life, for no one, is a peaceful path. Once in awhile something terribly unexpected will hit us like a meteor falling from the sky, leaving us barely able to put one foot ahead of the next and take another breath. The last 45 years has shown us that the celebration is not about the number of years, but the number of times we held onto one another. We've shared losses of the heart that started when hubby's brother was killed in a car accident by a drunk driver. A couple years later his grandma and grampa were killed in a car accident by a drunk driver. Early on in the game we learned this wasn't going to be easy, and we needed each other.
Then there's the other side of the scale of justice. The silliness and the fun of growing old together. Watching the warts that were never there before...the number on the bathroom scale get bigger...the thinning hair turn gray...the skin droop...the unwanted hairs grow like grass, and every body part hurt...if we actually use them. We've taken new vows to laugh when we find new warts, and we're preparing ourselves for what we'll look like ten years from now.
Life is a climb. A tower to be reckoned with one day at a time, one situation at a time. Marriage is a commitment between two people to face life together. It's not about giggles and movie-screen romance. It's about testing the strength of two heart strings.
Our month spent alone was our congratulations to two human spirits making the climb together and not letting go. Like those crimson leaves in the picture, we've clung to the tree of life that sustains us both. We are no longer newlyweds. We are oldyweds. And, that suits us just fine.