Celebrating for the 72nd Time!
February 8, 2020
How uncommon is a couple celebrating their 72nd wedding anniversary? Very. According to the Census Bureau, 0.1% of all people currently married (less than one tenth of one percent) have reached their 72nd anniversary! My parents are part of that 0.1%! On February 8, 1948, they tied the knot after an eight-month courtship. Seventy-two years, three children, seven grandchildren, and several great-grandchildren later, they are still pressing on!
A 72nd wedding anniversary is both a rare and remarkable event, indeed, and one that arouses curiosity as to what helps a marriage survive for 25, 30, 50, 60 or 70+ years! Many suggestions are given, and many stories are told, as to what the secret is to marital success. Always choose love, compliment each other, never clean out the garage together, never go to bed angry, etc. While there may be some truth in those suggestions, my guess is that part of reaching a milestone of 70+ years, also involves great genetics to have both husband and wife surviving well into their nineties and still hanging in there.
It has been a great blessing in my life to watch my parents interact with each other and many times when I walk into their home, I hear them chatting and I marvel at how much they still have to say to one another after 72 years of living together.
When I asked my parents what the secret was to the longevity of their marriage, my Dad said, “It was the Lord’s doing!”
I’ll go with that! It was the Lord’s doing!
23 This is the Lord’s doing;
it is marvelous in our eyes.
24 This is the
day that the Lord has
made;
let us rejoice and be glad in it.
Psalm 118: 23-24
Happy 72nd Anniversary, Mom and Dad! Your love for each other has spilled over to all of your children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and loved ones, and it is marvelous in our eyes!