Saturday, May 5, 2012

The Long Haul

It was not the wedding that most dream about, there was a dress, though not a traditional one, and
not a tux, but a velvet jacket and bow tie and jeans.  Not photos, because the minister's wife couldn't work a 35mm camera.  Hostess Twinkies and bottle of Boone's Farm wine were the sacraments.  Nobody thought it would last.  No one attended but the bride, the groom, the minister and his wife.  That was 38 years ago today in a little south Alabama town called Brewton, near the Gulf of Mexico.

Yep,  there has never been anything typical about our marriage.......it has had its share of ups and downs,  of good and bad, of wild and crazy, silly and sad.  Music has always been a common thread, at times the only common thread......but we knew we were in it for the long haul.

It took his folks a long time to adjust to me.......I was just downright weird, skinny as a rail,
long blonde hair, a hippy chick.  His momma thought that he had never committed any sins until he married me.  It didn't matter what anyone thought, I knew we brought out the best in each other.

Our life together has been quite a journey, full of mystery, joy, and adventure......and also times of boredom, disgust and disbelief.....after all that is what life is, that is what marriage is.
A commitment, a compromise, a trust, and sometimes just hanging on for the hell of it.
So for all those who thought we'd never make it......you were wrong.......we were in it for the long haul.

6 comments:

  1. Loved this post Jilda, and many congratulations to you and Rick on your 38th wedding anniversary. As I've just said on Rick's blog, so many of the youngsters these days just walk away from marriage at the slightest thing. Sometimes it wonderful, but It's not easy sometimes. Sometimes it's horrible, but, like you, hubby and I are in it for the long run, and now that we are getting older, I am so glad that we stuck at it. I so wish that you had just one photo of the wedding day!

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  2. Congratulations, Jilda!

    Good for you and Rick.

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  3. Congratulations! I just discovered you from reading at your husband's blog. And you both had wonderful posts - real, committed, respectful ... and now when life is giving you lemons, now is when those qualities are most desired.

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  4. Congratulations. It will be 38 for us on June 29. Also a somewhat "different" wedding day. Some days it's hard to know what to call it....marital combat some days and marital bliss others....what fun.

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  5. Congratulations Jilda and Rick!!! That is just awesome. People actually took bets that Rich and I wouldn't make it 6 months. We made it 23 years so I know the feeling! You guys are an adorable couple. Love it when people are wrong.

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  6. I wish you another 38 years of growing together. Congratulations.

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