My parents would have celebrated
their 69th Wedding anniversary
TODAY
June 7, 2021
I believe they still do
because that
“till death do us part”
never really separates.          .          .
Tomorrow
June 8, 2021
Erin and I are celebrating our
35th Wedding Anniversary.

On June 8, 1986
the odds makers gave us a 35% chance of surviving our second marriage
which blended two families together
and it even went down a few percentage points when we had
o       u       r
two children within the first four years of our marriage.

T     O     D     A     Y:

the odds makers are ruling in our favor.

T     H     E     Y
say
77% of couples married since 1990 reached their 10-year anniversaries according to recent census figures.  It’s a supposed slight increase from 74% in the 80’s when divorces were at an all-time high.

N      O      W

Fifty-Five percent of all married couples have been married for at least 15 years, according to the Census report, while 35 percent have celebrated their 25th anniversaries and a special

S     I     X          P     E     R     C     E     N     T
have made it to 50 years.

The Social Scientists are giving us all kinds of reasons why couples have not only leveled off the divorce train but actually turned it around:

Better Communication

More Equal Rights and Pay

Being Friends First

Compatibility

Financial Stability

Bradford Wilcox, the Director of the National Marriage Project at the University of Virginia tells us,

“Marriage is actually becoming more stable in America and divorce is becoming less common.”

He goes on to say,

“There is sort of more of a soul mate model of marriage today. . .50 years ago, this was one of the things you did when you became a young adult.  You found a boyfriend or girlfriend and if you were pretty happy you’d go ahead and get married. . .Today the bar for marriage is much higher because people want a soul mate, not just a spouse.  And a soul mate should be someone who is capable of providing you with emotional fulfillment, an intense relationship.”

What do I know after 35 years?

I know

that I can give the World, but Erin can bring me home.

I know

that we can show each other what we can never see by ourselves

I know

that she’s a beautiful blue ocean and I’m an extensive sandy shore

I know

that her Better

conquers my Worse

I know

that her Richness

obliterates my Poverty

I know

her Health

cures my Illnesses

I know

her Love is my never ending Christmas Day

I most ultimately know

I’m not

the strongest,

the bravest,

the smartest,

the brightest,

the thinnest,

the fastest,

the surest,

the most handsome

but no one can ever convince me

that  I’m  not  the

l       u       c       k      i      e      s      t

The one thing after all of these years

I absolutely-for-the-life-of-me-cannot-figure-out:

Why   she   said

Y       E       S

but I’m in heaven now and forevermore

because she

did.        .        .

Great relationships aren’t  the ones that last a lifetime,

they’re ones that last a second past eternity.

I don’t know what the percentages of

T            H            A            T

a r e.        .        .

but when you have it.           .           .

you no longer care;

It’s a Math
you can’t figure out
but  adds  up
a     n     y     w     a     y

(and we just can’t stop smiling)

]]> http://thecaringcatalyst.com/the-luckiest/feed/ 13 1831 http://thecaringcatalyst.com/figuring-it-out/ http://thecaringcatalyst.com/figuring-it-out/#respond Fri, 10 May 2019 11:00:46 +0000 http://thecaringcatalyst.com/?p=3999

Was it an accident
was it a mistake
or was it a blessing. . . ?

She was a new waitress and she inadvertently gave me the check of somebody else after she’d already given me my check.

Two things: instead of making her feel like a Queen Duh or worst, getting offended; I thanked her.

She looked shocked and embarrassed. And then I explained that sometimes a blessing finds you without looking for it;
confused I continued by admitting I’m the most selfish customer she’s ever had. . .

By doing something
GOOD
KIND
CARING
COMPASSIONATE
LOVING
it actually makes me feel better—SELFISH
and that sometimes I get to be real
S E L F I S H
when an accident
and a mistake
h a p p e n s
like getting my check and someone else’s and
THAT’S
when it turns into a
B L E S S I N G. . . 

I don’t know if she fully got it
 But I did
I told her to tell the lady who’s check she gave me,
“SOMEBODY OWED HER, AND THANK YOU.”

So was it an accident
was it a mistake
or was it a blessing. . .
Sometimes it takes a while to figure that out
and at other times it’s sledge hammer
right-between-the-eyes-knock-you-to-your-knees-watch-the-funk-pour-out  enlightening:
The accident and mistake equal
THE BLESSING
ITS PURE MATH;
Even more sure than 1+1=2
but we would never bet our life on it. . .
Do it. . .
Make the bet
Don’t read a blog post and wonder if it’s
true/false
real/fake
Make THE BET
and find out once and for all:
IT’s ALL A BLESSING—
especially when it looks like it never adds
UP RIGHT