04 April 2008

D is for Dad and Mom


Today would have been my parents 49th Anniversary. My thoughts this week have really been centered on them, and on their marriage. Their marriage was, and continues to be, a wonderful example to Andy and I. With the way many marriages end in divorce today, I consider myself blessed to have grown up in a two-parent household.


I thought I would take the time to talk about how my parents met today. Mom and Dad met at a wedding. It was Dad's cousin, and Mom was there as someone's date. Dad always said he couldn't take his eyes off of Mom that night. By the end of the night, he asked her out. On their first date, Dad actually proposed to Mom! (Talk about love at first sight!) Mom always said that even thought she told Dad he was crazy, that she knew that she would end up marrying him. In fact, the August that Mom met Dad, Mom was set to go to New York with some of her friends. She canceled the trip, knowing that she had met the man she would marry.


So, Mom and Dad met in August, were engaged in November, and married on April 4, 1959. They had 45 wonderful years before Mom died. I am so glad we got the chance to celebrate as a family that year.


After Mom died, Dad found a letter she had written on their 25th Anniversary. In it, she said that her prayer was that she preceded my Dad is death because she didn't think she could go on without him. I think that this is why my Dad survived so long with his cancer, literally years longer than he should have. It was so that Mom wouldn't have to live without him. Dad died a mere 19 months after she did. I am so thankful to have had their example and their love. Happy Anniversary, Mom and Dad!

2 comments:

Nelle said...

What a beautiful story. I think romance like that is fairly rare.

I'm so glad you left a comment. I look forward to keeping track of you this month of daily posting.

British Isles Artworks said...

Therese! What a perfect story! I just have to tell you something... reading about how your parents knew immediately on their very first date that they would marry makes me feel like I'm not as crazy!

On the day I met my now husband ... April 8, 1990 to be exact... I knew he was the man I would marry. I knew it immediately. It was the strangest thing I have EVER felt in my life and I can only explain the feeling by attributing it to God and somehow he worked through me to "tell" me Frank was "mine".

I'm so glad to know I'm not crazy and that others have had the same experience! Your parents were so blessed to have God come to them and bring them together!

When the choice of spouse is ours, we sometimes fail. When we leave the choice of spouse up to God, we prevail!