Thursday, 9/19

Today's a big day in the extended Koski family.

Today Chicky-Poo and Dar, the two people responsible for me and my siblings, and therefore, I guess, my siblings’ kids, will be celebrating an anniversary.  And it’s not just ANY anniversary; no, it’s one that ends in a “0”.  Because of my family’s phobia about aging, I’m not allowed to tell you WHICH anniversary (ending with a “0”) they’re celebrating, but seeing as how they were married when Dwight Eisenhower was President, that might give you a pretty good idea.

We’re not making too big a deal about it; just a few friends and family members over to celebrate with a little dinner that we're all throwing together this weekend. However, we did want to make sure that this day preserved for all posterity. I'll get to that in just a bit.

Aside from my parents and their friends, Loraine and I have been lucky (through her research) to meet many couples who’ve celebrated several anniversaries that end with a “0”, and it always blows our collective mind that there have been people who’ve been together since some time in the 1950s, or the 1940s, or even the 1930s.  Maybe it’s a generational thing; I know that just about every single member of the people in our little circle of friends have either been divorced or never married, or have been married just a few years and still aren’t too sure about the whole concept.

But to reach multiple anniversaries that end with a “0”?  I don’t even think we (as in people my age) can comprehend being married 10 or 20 years, much less 40 or 50 or 60.  Yet here are people like my parents and their friends, all of whom are setting a shining example of what it’s like spending a lifetime living through “for better or worse, in sickness and in health, ‘til death do us part”.

Wow.  So the next time you’re celebrating because you’ve reached your 5th anniversary, or your 10th, or your 20th, take a moment and think about your parents, or your grandparents.  Think about how they’ve celebrated their 40th or their 50th, or their 60th, and about how, with any luck, you’ll reach the same number of anniversaries it took them a lifetime of togetherness to accumulate.

Happy anniversary, Mom & Dad.  Here’s to hoping you celebrate a couple more anniversaries with “0”s in them!

****

Now, how did we mark this big anniversary for posterity? Well, my parents now have their own website. It tells their story, from their birth up to today, and has all kinds of pictures, many of them throughout the years, as well as their kids and grandkids. There may—may--even be one or two dorky pictures of me in there as well.

Maybe.

If you wanna check it out, just click here and find out how this amazing couple has lived their amazing life!

(jim@wmqt.com)