Mary and I have been happily married for 23 long and wonderful years today, August 6. We’re heading to Rockford today after church for bar-b-que ribs and will try to get as messy as possible then go shopping. We don’t get to the big Rockford very often.
We were married in the log chapel at Camp Michigamme in the deep north woods of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula in 1983 at ages 22 and 23 (Mary is much, much older than me). But we actually knew each other at age 2 & 3 when her father was my pastor in the same little U.P. town. Family rumor has it that Mary and I took a bath together way back then. We actually grew up sort of together going to Family Camp at Michigamme over the years but I was always the younger annoying brat with buck teeth and glasses that she wanted nothing to do with. Finally in 1981, I guess I had grown up enough (but not matured - still haven’t) to attract her attention. We were married two years later while I was in the military and immediately moved to northern Virginia and my duty station to finish out my tour of duty. Now here we are 23 years later with two great kids, four college degrees, a mortgage, two dogs and a dream of retirement.
I’ll give you all an update again in another 23 years. I should be mature by then.
Staying together in this day and age is a commendable feat. I married a woman from Michigan whose parents grew up in the UP (Trout Creek) and we got to 24 years before packing it in. After having 8 years off for good behavior, I took the plunge a second time and we just passed our 5th anniversary.
All the best to you for many, many, more years!
And, by the way, maturity is overrated! (I even had a t-shirt made up)
Congratulations Bruce and Mary. 23 years is a long time. Longer than I have been alive, even. Best of luck with your current employment woes and in your marriage.
Hitler style! Military regs said that 'staches couldn’t extend past the corners of the mouth. Absolutely no beards in the Air Force. I only wear the beard because I hate having to shave everyday.
Wedding photos from that long ago sure are scary! Ashley’s mom asked me yesterday why I didn’t wear my military dress uniform when I got married. I told her that if I had four attendants that rented tuxes, my tux was free so I couldn’t pass it up. All in all, our entire wedding including Mary’s $200 wedding dress cost us $800. Whereas, my foster sister’s wedding cost her $1100, the entire wedding, $11,000 and the marriage lasted 11 months. Quite a bit of money and not much to show for it.
Hey, another idea for a meaningless, non-sensical thread; Photos Then and Now. Would be fun…if someone started one.
That’s a great idea. I don’t have any photos left from my first wedding in 1969 but I could probably come up with a Photoshopped “Yesterday and Today” submission. Actually it would be nice to see what posters look like. Who wants to start the thread?
I grabbed an old blade before work today by accident and by the time I realized it I was a bloody mess. Had to buy a septic stick because one cut wouldn’t stop bleeding while I was at work. Now that I finally have a job where I need to shave everyday (not because of any policies, but because I feel it’s proper) I am starting to realize how inconvenient it really is.
It also means you have been married for most of your life.
