Let’s see – where were we? Ah, yes… school ended and we headed up to the mountains to celebrate the beginning of summer!
My parents celebrated their 4oth wedding anniversary while we were there. My mom gave my dad a fancy camera and he was thrilled! I love this little exchange between them:
Hmmm… what do we have here?
Noooo wayyyy….
The look on mom’s face says I nailed it with this present!
Um, yes you did!
Hooray for awesome cameras and HOORAY for 40 years of marriage!
I cannot adequately express what a gift my parents’ marriage has been to me, all of my life. I know my parents love me and my brothers deeply, but I know that their love for each other is deeper.
The Lord orchestrated their meeting while Daddy was a KA at Vanderbilt and was roommates with mom’s brother, my Uncle Saunders. Mama went up from UGA for the weekend to visit, and the rest is history. (Dad says Mom’s fried chicken might have had something to do with it, too.)
I remember as a child, when Dad would come home from work, he and Mom would have their ‘grown up time’ in the living room, and it was clear that the brothers and I were not invited to that party! They really took the time to nuture their relationship and have mutual interests- not just center their life on their children, as so many families are tempted to do today. So, when me and my brothers flew the coop, they were thrilled to have each other to spend time with and share life together.
God has blessed them tremendously with a long-lasting marriage. Scott and I (and my brothers and their wives) have learned so much from watching them. Y’all, my Dad? The man runs errands with Mama like a champ. Could that be the secret to a happy marriage? Perhaps so. Or, maybe it’s the way he treats her like a queen. Another secret? They don’t yell at each other. I remember Mom telling me, “I never wanted my own way so badly that it would make me yell at your dad, because people only fight when one or both of them is being selfish.” Those words have resounded in my head a time or two (or fifty). So true.
I’m so thankful for my parents and the legacy they are giving to my family. Happy 40th Anniversary, Mom and Dad! (even if it’s 10 months late!)
thebrokenbohemian.wordpress.com 
Love this post!!! Hope you don’t mind, but I am taking a copy of that last picture – that may be my favorite ever of the two of them and I want to frame it.
Thank you – and love to all! LA
beautiful:) the last picture of them is amazing. so sweet. a model for us all. i love the spending time together when he got home from work. awesome. love you, alliemac
oh, yes. i have seen them walking the aisles at wal mart a time or two. always makes me smile.
what a gift, your heritage!
Love those pictures, and love your parents too!
Yes, and we have been blessed to have their inspiration all our married life, and her influence all my life!
I agree with LeeAnn, I love that last picture of them.
Much love to all,
Aunt B and Baseball Man
This is Dad. Well, that is just the sweetest thing to read. Seriously, we have known that God has been in control of our lives always, because (1) He says so and (2) we could never have achieved the measure of blessings He has lavished on us through our own efforts. To have been blessed with such children would be enough. But to have been blessed with children who would lead us to Christ has been the Gift of Gifts. Our marriage is affirmed every day in many ways, not least by the love our children (and grandchildren) show us. Every day is a celebration to some degree, for which we are thankful. Thank you, Princess, for being such an important part of that!
Loooove this!!