Forty-three years
22/06/16 05:41
1973 began with President Richard Nixon announcing the suspension of offensive action in North Vietnam, followed by the announcement of the peace accord signed in Paris. Former president Lyndon B. Johnson died, leaving no living former U.S. President.
In February, the first American prisoners of war were released from Vietnam. Here in South Dakota, American Indian Movement activists occupied Wounded Knee and a standoff began.
In the spring as soldiers were returning from Vietnam, more news of the Watergate scandal was released and former Attorney General John Mitchell was named as the overall boss of the operation. The Sears Tower was completed in Chicago, the world’s tallest building. Secretariat was the first horse to win the triple crown since 1948.
The famous abortion case Roe v Wade was decided by the Supreme Court in 1973.
1973 was the year Henry Kissinger was named Secretary of State. It was also the year Billy Jean King defeated Bobby Riggs in a tennis match. It was the year of the Education of the Handicapped Act (EHA) mandating Special Education across the nation, and the passage of the Endangered Species Act.
It was the year that construction of the Alaska pipeline was authorized.
Vice President Spiro Agnew resigned and the nation went without a Vice President for a couple of months until Gerald Ford was named in December. Mike Mansfield, a senator from my home state of Montana was majority leader in the Senate.
It didn’t make the headlines and wasn’t reported by the major media outlets, but on June 22, 1973, in a small ceremony at Mayflower United Church of Christ in Billings, Montana, Susan and I were married. Rev. Frank Elliot and Rev. Jim Cernohlavek officiated. Claudia Stickney sang, accompanied by her brother Jeff on the piano. John Bross was organist. The reception was held at the church following the ceremony. It was the early 1970’s. The clothes we wore for the rehearsal and the ceremony have provided a lot of laughs for our children in the years since.
Unbeknownst to us at the time, the next day on the other side of the country, in a Roman Catholic rite, Karen and Dave Calabrese were married. Thirty-eight years later, in 2011, their son married our daughter.
Some anniversaries have special gems associated with them. The 25th is the Silver Anniversary, the 30th is the Pearl Anniversary, the 50th is the Golden Anniversary and the 75th is the Platinum Anniversary. I used to think that the 75th was the Diamond Anniversary, but my list says that title is for the 60th.
According to the list of traditional gifts for wedding anniversaries, the 43rd anniversary gift is travel. Then again, I didn’t make a gift of land for our 41st anniversary or developed real estate for our 42nd. I’m looking forward to our 44th next year when the traditional gift is groceries or our 46th anniversary when the gift is original poetry. 47 is fun with books being the gift, which I guess is a prelude to the 48th, when the traditional gift is “optical goods.”
I guess our daughter has already hit the mark accurately with anniversary gifts. She recently announced that she and her husband will be moving to Japan later this year. Their 4 years in Japan will almost certainly give us the gift of travel. We’ll have to go visit them.
I remember attending a 50th wedding anniversary celebration during the first year of our marriage. The couple seemed to be nearly impossibly old to me. I couldn’t imagine what it would be like to be 50 years older. But I did have a sense that it was a goal I wanted to achieve - to have a strong and sustained marriage that would last for a half century and more. 43 years later, it seems like we’re on track for that occasion.
Of course the longevity of our marriage is due to many factors that are beyond our control. We didn’t do anything to earn the blessings of good health that we have enjoyed. We have escaped major accidents and avoided being caught up in wars and enjoyed excellent nutrition mostly through the luck of birth and circumstance. My father died at an age 4 years younger than I am. They didn’t see their 40th wedding anniversary.
One of the things that I have learned to say to young couples when I am working with them on their wedding ceremonies is that the joy of growing old together is one of the most wonderful things in the world. I know that it is nearly impossible for a couple in their twenties to know what that means, but I genuinely pray that they will someday learn it on their own. It is one of the sweetest experiences of life.
The list of traditional presents that I have goes year by year up to 50 and then starts recognizing anniversaries in 5-year intervals. You got from Gold to Emerald to Diamond to Platinum. My list doesn’t name special gifts for the 65th or 70th Anniversary.
43 seems like just the right number for this year. We have been blessed with wonderful children and grandchildren. We have shared our careers for all of these years, first being students together and for the last 38 years we have been pastors together. As far as we know that 38 years is a record for United Church of Christ clergy couples continuously serving the same church together.
Some days 1973 seems a long time ago. We’ve done a lot of things, taken a lot of trips and had a lot of adventures. Many life-changing events have occurred in the time. Today, however, it doesn’t seem like it has been a long time at all. I can remember the joy and anticipation of our wedding day, the love and support of family and friends, and the confidence that we were doing the right thing.
The bride is as beautiful today as she was back then. I have no doubt it was one of the best things we’ve ever done.
In February, the first American prisoners of war were released from Vietnam. Here in South Dakota, American Indian Movement activists occupied Wounded Knee and a standoff began.
In the spring as soldiers were returning from Vietnam, more news of the Watergate scandal was released and former Attorney General John Mitchell was named as the overall boss of the operation. The Sears Tower was completed in Chicago, the world’s tallest building. Secretariat was the first horse to win the triple crown since 1948.
The famous abortion case Roe v Wade was decided by the Supreme Court in 1973.
1973 was the year Henry Kissinger was named Secretary of State. It was also the year Billy Jean King defeated Bobby Riggs in a tennis match. It was the year of the Education of the Handicapped Act (EHA) mandating Special Education across the nation, and the passage of the Endangered Species Act.
It was the year that construction of the Alaska pipeline was authorized.
Vice President Spiro Agnew resigned and the nation went without a Vice President for a couple of months until Gerald Ford was named in December. Mike Mansfield, a senator from my home state of Montana was majority leader in the Senate.
It didn’t make the headlines and wasn’t reported by the major media outlets, but on June 22, 1973, in a small ceremony at Mayflower United Church of Christ in Billings, Montana, Susan and I were married. Rev. Frank Elliot and Rev. Jim Cernohlavek officiated. Claudia Stickney sang, accompanied by her brother Jeff on the piano. John Bross was organist. The reception was held at the church following the ceremony. It was the early 1970’s. The clothes we wore for the rehearsal and the ceremony have provided a lot of laughs for our children in the years since.
Unbeknownst to us at the time, the next day on the other side of the country, in a Roman Catholic rite, Karen and Dave Calabrese were married. Thirty-eight years later, in 2011, their son married our daughter.
Some anniversaries have special gems associated with them. The 25th is the Silver Anniversary, the 30th is the Pearl Anniversary, the 50th is the Golden Anniversary and the 75th is the Platinum Anniversary. I used to think that the 75th was the Diamond Anniversary, but my list says that title is for the 60th.
According to the list of traditional gifts for wedding anniversaries, the 43rd anniversary gift is travel. Then again, I didn’t make a gift of land for our 41st anniversary or developed real estate for our 42nd. I’m looking forward to our 44th next year when the traditional gift is groceries or our 46th anniversary when the gift is original poetry. 47 is fun with books being the gift, which I guess is a prelude to the 48th, when the traditional gift is “optical goods.”
I guess our daughter has already hit the mark accurately with anniversary gifts. She recently announced that she and her husband will be moving to Japan later this year. Their 4 years in Japan will almost certainly give us the gift of travel. We’ll have to go visit them.
I remember attending a 50th wedding anniversary celebration during the first year of our marriage. The couple seemed to be nearly impossibly old to me. I couldn’t imagine what it would be like to be 50 years older. But I did have a sense that it was a goal I wanted to achieve - to have a strong and sustained marriage that would last for a half century and more. 43 years later, it seems like we’re on track for that occasion.
Of course the longevity of our marriage is due to many factors that are beyond our control. We didn’t do anything to earn the blessings of good health that we have enjoyed. We have escaped major accidents and avoided being caught up in wars and enjoyed excellent nutrition mostly through the luck of birth and circumstance. My father died at an age 4 years younger than I am. They didn’t see their 40th wedding anniversary.
One of the things that I have learned to say to young couples when I am working with them on their wedding ceremonies is that the joy of growing old together is one of the most wonderful things in the world. I know that it is nearly impossible for a couple in their twenties to know what that means, but I genuinely pray that they will someday learn it on their own. It is one of the sweetest experiences of life.
The list of traditional presents that I have goes year by year up to 50 and then starts recognizing anniversaries in 5-year intervals. You got from Gold to Emerald to Diamond to Platinum. My list doesn’t name special gifts for the 65th or 70th Anniversary.
43 seems like just the right number for this year. We have been blessed with wonderful children and grandchildren. We have shared our careers for all of these years, first being students together and for the last 38 years we have been pastors together. As far as we know that 38 years is a record for United Church of Christ clergy couples continuously serving the same church together.
Some days 1973 seems a long time ago. We’ve done a lot of things, taken a lot of trips and had a lot of adventures. Many life-changing events have occurred in the time. Today, however, it doesn’t seem like it has been a long time at all. I can remember the joy and anticipation of our wedding day, the love and support of family and friends, and the confidence that we were doing the right thing.
The bride is as beautiful today as she was back then. I have no doubt it was one of the best things we’ve ever done.