Three years ago I was ad libbing a response to a question when I finally figured it out.
We were at Mass in Corpus Christi three years ago, to celebrate our 39th wedding anniversary. At the end of Mass, the priest asked, "anyone here celebrating an anniversary?" I thought he was just going to toss us out a nice blessing, so I raised my hand along with an older woman. He then asked, "so what's the secret of your long marriage"? Uh oh. I hadn't planned on being called on, but it was too dang late. He asked the woman first. She responded, "perseverance". Everyone chuckled. Then he remembered I had put my hand up, so he asked me, "is your secret perseverance"? I really wanted to say something like: "that's a pretty insulting remark- you know, 'I can hardly stand him, but I'm hanging on'. Sheesh". But instead I responded, "No. Perseverance has nothing to do with it. I remind myself, pretty much on a daily basis of the incredible gift God has given me, and I give continual thanks." I wish I had concluded with: "And that's a fact, Jack", but I didn't think of it until later. Anyway, when I made my statement, I could hear a bunch of "ahhhhhh"s. You know, like ahhhh, isn't that sweet? Hey, I thought we were supposed to be in love. I mean, when I married her I was crazy in love. She's even better now than 39 years ago. Does everyone think a permanent relationship is supposed to be endured? How about the idea we all get to invent our marriages? Invent how to impress our spouse after ten years, twenty years, forty-two years. Perhaps everyone's into zombie movies so much they've turned into a zombie themselves. Maybe I'll make that my mantra: de-zombify our marriages. It's our forty-second anniversary today, and I'm even more thankful than I was three years ago. The zombie life isn’t for me.
We were at Mass in Corpus Christi three years ago, to celebrate our 39th wedding anniversary. At the end of Mass, the priest asked, "anyone here celebrating an anniversary?" I thought he was just going to toss us out a nice blessing, so I raised my hand along with an older woman. He then asked, "so what's the secret of your long marriage"? Uh oh. I hadn't planned on being called on, but it was too dang late. He asked the woman first. She responded, "perseverance". Everyone chuckled. Then he remembered I had put my hand up, so he asked me, "is your secret perseverance"? I really wanted to say something like: "that's a pretty insulting remark- you know, 'I can hardly stand him, but I'm hanging on'. Sheesh". But instead I responded, "No. Perseverance has nothing to do with it. I remind myself, pretty much on a daily basis of the incredible gift God has given me, and I give continual thanks." I wish I had concluded with: "And that's a fact, Jack", but I didn't think of it until later. Anyway, when I made my statement, I could hear a bunch of "ahhhhhh"s. You know, like ahhhh, isn't that sweet? Hey, I thought we were supposed to be in love. I mean, when I married her I was crazy in love. She's even better now than 39 years ago. Does everyone think a permanent relationship is supposed to be endured? How about the idea we all get to invent our marriages? Invent how to impress our spouse after ten years, twenty years, forty-two years. Perhaps everyone's into zombie movies so much they've turned into a zombie themselves. Maybe I'll make that my mantra: de-zombify our marriages. It's our forty-second anniversary today, and I'm even more thankful than I was three years ago. The zombie life isn’t for me.
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