We were married on July 15, 1967. Our Golden Wedding Anniversary was too far away to even think about at that time. I couldn't imagine all that might happen and how we would look in fifty years. Well, guess what! Fifty years turned out to be a lot shorter than I thought and in 2017, here we are!
Our children set up a family meeting in January to pick a date to take family pictures and have a party. We went all through June and July until we finally agreed on August 5. With all that everyone had going on, it's good we set the date that far in advance.
We said they had thrown a big party for our fortieth anniversary and we didn't think it was necessary to do that again. We preferred to keep it to family and invite only our children, grandchildren, siblings, and of course, Leroy's mother. How many people still have their mothers when they celebrate their fiftieth anniversary?! So our friends would not be left out, they decided to have a card shower. The cards started coming in July and continued all month. It was like Christmas in July! We got 78 cards in the end. Some had gift cards or money in them. We decided to save the money for the trip we're planning to take to see The Ark this fall.
I wanted to take a full-dress formal family picture for this occasion and made a lot of noise that everyone MUST be there, no exceptions, and appropriately dressed. With a group that size, we were not going to fit in a studio and it would have to be outdoors. The party was also going to be a picnic outdoors. The weather was beyond our control but I watched the forecast daily. The closer we got to the day the better it looked.
We met at 8 a.m. to take family pictures. It was overcast when we started but by the time we finished the sky was blue. It was perfect! And everyone showed up dressed for a wedding. Because my bridal party wore pink, several thought we should have pink in the color scheme. The colors were any combination of black, white, pink, and gray. Everyone looked so nice all dressed up! I had made a new white dress and carried a half dozen pink roses. I don't have the photographer pictures yet but here's a couple of getting ready to take pictures.
When we finished, the families scattered to get things ready for the party in the evening. Gerald went to the picnic grounds first to set up and start grilling the chicken.
One by one the families arrived bringing their portion of things for the meal.
By 4 p.m. the guests started to arrive. We were greatly honored that my brother and his wife flew in from northwestern Ontario just to be here for this occasion. They miss a lot of family events and it was really special to have them here. The Lord blessed us with perfect weather. It was a wonderful evening and the food was delicious. It felt strange to sit there and watch them do all the work but they proved they were fully capable of doing it without my help. I can retire!
I think the celebrating is finished now and we are plowing on, starting our second fifty years. We have had some rough spots in the first fifty but God is good and we have had a very good life together. I couldn't have wished for anything better.
"O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good: for his mercy endures for ever."
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