Thirty Nine Years

Thirty nine years ago today, I was a 19 year old standing next to a 20 year old in front of a minister in Mobile Alabama. We were married in his parent's home. His grandmother played the piano. A friend of his dad "gave me away". His sister, who is now a grandmother, was only 12. My friends drove over from Tallahassee, as did his. We drove that night to New Orleans to stay in the Governor's Inn for our honeymoon of three days with nothing more than the $100 bill his grandmother had given us as a wedding gift. In the blink of an eye, we each finished college, we lived in many places in this country and traveled and lived overseas. We've each been through a few careers. We have three perfect children and two wonderful grandchildren. We attained our goals in child raising which was to raise children who were thinkers and not followers and were people that other people really liked to be around. We are still a team; we still root for each other. We've stayed together and still grew individually. The road has not been without bumps, but we always seemed to land back on the same road - together. The thing to tell my children is this: IT ALL TOOK PLACE IN THE BLINK OF AN EYE. Do something you love as a career, but with an eye to the future because you WILL retire IN THE BLINK OF AN EYE. Learn to save and don't spend on things that you won't even want in five years. Don't fight over things that won't matter tomorrow. Enjoy each other and don't ever lose touch or let anything come between you - siblings or significant others. Don't look back. Enjoy.