Thursday, August 14, 2008

23,400 days

That's the number of days in 60 years. And that's the number of days my grandparents have been married, as of today.

I talked to Mamma and Papa this morning. I asked them both how she has put up with him this long. Mamma graciously said he's put up with her too! She also said that Papa learned really early on he wouldn't be able to change her even though there are a lot of things he'd probably want to change...hmm, that might be a good one for me to learn too.

They have 3 kids, 10 grandkids, and a slew of great-grandkids. (I've lost count.) The oldest great-grandchild is 20, so in the next few years they may be able to add great-great grandparents to their impressive list of titles.

Papa served in the Navy after World War II. He worked for the US Post Office until his retirement. He has incredible skills as a woodworker and I'm thrilled to have some of his pieces, such as Chickie's little rocking chair.

Mamma stayed at home with her kids, crafting gorgeous clothes for them without patterns, and working as an Avon Representative. (She's been doing that over 45 years now--yep, still going strong.)

On their wedding day they went to a drive-in (the food kind, not the movie kind), and while it's changed names, the place still exists. So they'll head out there today, sixty years later, to celebrate. A burger and fries never sounded so romantic.

Congratulations, Mamma and Papa!

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10 comments:

Angie said...

How sweet! Congrats to them.

Laurel said...

And they are so good looking to boot! Thanks Beth for sharing the joy of your grandparents!

Our Scoop said...

I agree with Laurel - a very good-looking couple!! Congratulations. That is an amazing amount of time to be married AND still be happy!!!!!

Cathy said...

Just a couple of corrections - I don't think they went to the drive in restaurant (Al's then - Foxy now) on their wedding day, but that's where they met - Mamma was a carhop!

Also, Papa was a bit too young for WWII but served in the Navy shortly thereafter.

Love, mom

C. Beth said...

Thanks, Mom! I pretty sure Papa specifically said they went there the day they got married so I am keeping that in--they probably went there because it was special since they'd met there! But if I find out I heard him wrong I'll go back and change it! I did change the military reference--oops, guess I need to get to know Papa better. :)

LEstes65 said...

I am SO jealous of your grandparents! But in a real Christian way. HA!

Seriously, I always love hearing about long lived marriages. I know they passed their incredibly-long-marriage genes on to you.

And by the way, those profile pix on the right are killing me!!! And I mean killing me in a good way because they're so darned cute!!!

Becky said...

How sweet! Congratulations to them!

And I love that the drive-in is still there, and not replaced by a parking ramp. What a special way to celebrate their 60th anniversary.

Anonymous said...

How sweet!!! Today is hubby's bday too! I enjoyed blogging for that too! This is pretty fun! I'M A BLOGGER! Ha.

Betti

Special K said...

Sniff Sniff...How WONDERFUL! I love it!

Mommy Vern said...

This is so amazing! What a nice looking couple! I love the thought of growing old together and try to remember to look to relationships like these that stand the test of time. I can only pray that Bryan and I are so lucky to make it that many years, we started a bit late- but it's definitely possible! His grandparents were married 65 odd years and his parents just hit 40 this year. Love is grand.