My Husband, my best friend...for life

Today is our 28th anniversary. We aren't doing anything fancy, just going to town and out to eat. Our 25th was a milestone, so we went to Cape Cod where we had spent our honeymoon. But each anniversary isn't about what can we do to celebrate or what can we give each other, it's about being thankful to God for our loving and lasting relationship over the years.

Long marriages are now a rare thing. People applaud when couples make it past the 10 year mark. People who hear how long we've been married (and happily ) seem amazed, as if it was some sort of luck that fell on us.

But if anyone asks how we have ended up with such a healthy marriage, my first reply is...always marry your best friend. It takes some time and effort to make friends. We only went out for one year before we were married, but we were in college and saw each other every day. Most of our time together we talked ...about everything....our beliefs, our feelings, our past, our vision for the future. We saw each other at our best and our worst. We even decided that every month or so we would evaluate our relationship to see if we were still headed in the same direction (this was a bit scary, but we always seemed to match up).

Sure, there was and is physical attraction, but we knew that that wasn't the main reason we wanted to get married. We knew that beauty fades and that our friendship would remain. And of course, we had our rough times, but we were committed to work through them because we wanted our relationship to endure.

That's what a best friend is..sees you as you are, loves you all the more, doesn't base the relationship on physical things, committed to stand side by side no matter what. Enjoys each others company no matter where you go, laughs and cries together, a united front against opposition. Supportive, protective, encouraging, understanding.

This may seem like a tall order, but anything worth having is worth the effort to keep. In these days when people throw away things out of boredom, too often that includes relationships as well. That is why during a wedding ceremony, the Pastor says, "not to be entered into lightly."

So today, I am so thankful that God gave my a best friend, Kraig, for life, a lover, a partner, a wonderful husband. Thank You God, you are so good.


(this photo was taken at my college graduation in May,1980. We would be married in October of that same year,both only 21yrs old...how the time does fly!)