Making It Last!

On Friday, my parents celebrated their 50th Wedding Anniversary.   Both my Mom's and my Dad's parents also celebrated 50 years of wedded bliss.

50 years of marriage sounds like quite an accomplishment....  but it is much more than that.  In our day and age when over half of all marriages end in divorce, one that lasts 50 years is truly something to be celebrated! It certainly takes more than love and attraction.  It takes communication, forgiveness, caring, selflessness, dedication, devotion, appreciation, gratitude, patience, honesty, sacrifice, and hard work.  Putting your spouse's needs before your own.   Is life all roses?  Of course, because roses do have thorns.  Feelings will be hurt.  But that is why communication is so important.  So many times, we may see our spouse do or say something that upsets us, but we need to be honest and communicate how we feel.  Never making a mountain out of a molehill.  And forgiveness is just as important, as are all of the other attributes I've mentioned.  If everyone was just a bit more caring, and less selfish, I believe that there might be more than a few starving divorce lawyers, and being invited to a 50 year wedding anniversary celebration would be commonplace!