Another Country Song

"These times are troubled and these times are good
And they're always gonna be, they rise and they fall
We take 'em all the way that we should
Together you and me forsaking them all
Deep in the night and by the light of day
It always looks the same, true love always does
And here by your side, or a million miles away
Nothin's ever gonna change the way that I feel,
The way it is, is the way that it was

When I said I do, I meant that I will 'til the end of all time
Be faithful and true, devoted to you
That's what I had in mind when I said I do."-- Clint Black

Long ago and far away....no, that's not it.....
Once upon a time....no,no,no, not what I mean at all....

Not a fairy tale romance, not a negatory romance: given our current status as grandparents, some might argue we're long past romance by any definition. But we're veterans of this game; there's not much we haven't seen or been through....together. We've had our 'blessed events'; we've spent two decades with our children under various roofs. We've lived our entire married life in the same county surrounded by half our family. We have toiled as partners and endured the vagaries of work and weather. We know how to hurt and know better than to use that knowledge. We're older, sometimes wiser....we've learned.....

'You come from a long line of love'....How could we not succeed with a portrait gallery of wedded ancestors? Every anniversary with a zero at the end is a mile marker. We're rookies compared with the pictorials in my scrapbooks....35, 40, 50. We're not there yet, but we pray we make it and we'll hold the kids up for good parties when we get there.

I got lots of advice before my wedding. I was young, giddy, and probably looked like I needed all the help I could get. But anniversaries are not earned by reading a 'Marriage for Dummies' manual. There is no head start, no magic potion, no yellow brick road. 'Every thing we got, we got the hard way.'

What's an anniversary anyway? Sometimes you eat steak together; sometimes you send a text. Sometimes you celebrate; sometimes you reflect; sometimes you go to work and its just another day. I guess that's a measure of accomplishment in itself: secure in life together while working to make that life better. Love may be a many splendored thing, but marriage is a million little nit picky details day after day and year after year. Remembering the cell phone charger; forgetting the socks in the couch....

.

Out here on the edge

Love dared us to try
Baby,some people fall,some people fly