25 Years and Counting: The Silver Anniversary

Question: How can you be happily married and still madly in love after 25 years?

Answer: Marry someone like Sam.

I’ll admit that when I was 21, I was far too inexperienced and naive to be a great judge of character and longevity. In many ways I just got really lucky.

While Sam did have a lot of serious things going for him in the potential spouse department (good looking, great kisser, sexy dancer, honest, ambitious, brilliant, educated, fun, faithful, happy, dependable, etc.), there were a lot of things I never thought to ask, like “What will you be like when I’m pregnant, gaining weight like a whale, and hanging over the toilet bowl wretching ever ten minutes for months on end?” Or “How will you respond when I’m tired and cranky and unfairly snap at you about something trivial?” Or “What will you do if I am diagnosed with a chronic, incapacitating disease?” Or “What happens when we are getting older and every minute isn’t exactly stimulating and exciting?”

These were the kinds of questions that I didn’t even think to ask. And they are the most important.

Here I am, 25 years from the day we promised to love each other (and no other) for ever and ever. And I am more in love with Sam than even on that most romantic and thrilling August day in 1985. He’s still my dream man. And I’m one lucky girl.