30 years of Marriage

My Mom and Dad are celebrating their 30th wedding anniversary, tomorrow, August 15th!

They are all chill about the fact that they have been together for 30 years. I think I am the one that is the MOST excited.  30 years!!!  30 YEARS!!!   

That is so long!!

Gives me HOPE!!

I keep thinking back to the night of mine and Roger's wedding. My mom pulled me aside, at the reception and told me what I thought at the time was very harsh "you are married now Jessica.  This is no longer your home. You're home is where your husband is. Don't you be running back here when you all have a fight. And you WILL have those fights. Everyone does. You stay with him. You talk it out. Now give me back my house key."

I was in SHOCK.  The day of my wedding, at the reception, I had to dig around through my purse to find the house key and hand it over to my mom.  I really didn't understand.

That is until Roger and I had our first major fight.  

What did I do?

I got so mad I jumped in my car  and drove away.

But after about 5 min of driving I remembered my mom's  words, realized there was no where for me to go and turned the car around.

Roger and I ended up sitting at the kitchen table for a very long time talking through our first marital spat.

It taught us to stick together. To talk it. To keep it between the two of us.

There was one afternoon, after Roger and I had been married for 2 years, that I showed up at my parent's house unexpectedly. With tears streaming down my face I knocked on the door. (remember I didn't have a key to the house).   I was crying because I was so stressed out from my college classes but my Mom, upon opening her door  and seeing me standing there in tears, refused to let me in saying "Does your husband know you're here?"  She made me call Roger so she could check to make sure we weren't having a fight before she let me in.    

All that is to say that I am very blessed to have a Mom and Dad who have fought VERY hard to sustain a marital relationship in this high divorce rate culture. I am VERY thankful for such a wonderful example of commitment. 

Because, honestly, sometimes it really is about commitment.  

They've taught me that there are times that you don't feel as "in love" but you have made a commitment to THAT PERSON and you best be keeping it.  

They are very matter of fact.

They bascially say "this is how it is......." then tell ya how it is.

Mom and Dad met in high school.

HIGH SCHOOL SWEET HEARTS!!

Mom was the flag girl in the band while Dad was the HOT cross country runner.

Together, they were THE COUPLE in high school.

So adorable!

Mom with her dark hair and dark eyes.

Dad with his dark hair and green eyes.

how in the world did they give birth to three VERY blonde kids?

i digress. 

After graduation they ended up going to different colleges.  

Mom headed to Eastern while Dad headed to Cumberland.

Dad ended up graduating in 3 years so they decided to get married before Mom graduated.

Although they were married mom spent her last semester living in the dorms, while Dad stayed in Somerset to work at his new job and live in the house they were renting.  They visited (wink wink) each other on the weekends.

Roger and I have been married for only 7 years.  That seems so small in comparison to the 30 that they have been married.

With all the divorces going on around us I am given such HOPE in the mere fact that Mom and Dad have made it so far!!

If they can, then we can!

Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad!