40 years and counting

 This past July 10th, we celebrated 40 years of marriage. I am still in shock that we have been married for that long. We’ve been through moves to different cities, job changes, the loss of a child, the marriage of another child, becoming grandparents and retirement. It still doesn’t feel real. 

40 years of marriage!

We decided to have a family party for this year’s celebration. We were lucky to have all of my husband’s siblings, his brother-in-law and sister-in law and his nephews here as well as my brother and sister-in-law. My daughter-in-law’s whole family came and also my best friend from Mississippi and her family. We invited a sweet neighbor who we have grown to love and our gym teachers, who we have become friends with. It was a wonderful night and it meant a lot for our two families, who live so far apart to be together for a short while. It was the first time our granddaughters have had their entire immediate family together in one place. I think they enjoyed seeing all of their family together. 

Getting everything ready for the party was quite stressful, but in the end all the work was worth it.We have decided we will just go out to dinner for our 50th! 

One thing that happened at the party was a family jam! My husband, son, brother and brother-in-law favored us with some really good music. When I moved to Los Angeles to go to college and met Richard, he and his brother had a band. They practiced in my older brother Maurice’s garage. On the other side of the country was my brother Andre, who had been playing for years with such greats as Billy Joe Royal and Percy Sledge. I grew up with a band practicing in my living room. Our party was the first time they had ever played together. My son played with his father, and his two uncles on the stage. 

Family band! 

We made sure to honor Lauren at the party too. Her picture was in a prominent place for all to see. Our eldest granddaughter, whose middle name is Lauren after her aunt, made sure to show her love in a special way. 

My granddaughter’s message to Lauren. 

All in all it was a wonderful time. We are looking forward to many more years together!

 

Later that same year

 This has been a heck of a spring! I’ve had 2 cataract surgeries and 2 melanoma surgeries, and we moved my brother-in-law here in an effort to look after him. He’s a dialysis patient on SS disability. He’s my husband’s older brother. 

In between all that we spent a week with our West Coast family in Las Vegas for my nephew’s graduation! We got stuck overnight in Saint Louis because of weather. But we made it home! 

We had the girls last week and this weekend we are hosting some family for our 40th wedding anniversary! I’m exhausted, but I’m a good way! 

We are having a super hot summer! It’s been miserable! But going to the pool is a relief. 

As the summer progresses, I am happy for family and faith. We’re gonna make it! 

No excuses. No excuses.

Here I am back again saying I have no excuse for not posting sooner. I just get busy and neglect to do it. No excuses. 

November and December were busier than usual as we took trips to Las Vegas and South Carolina to visit our families. We also had visits from Richard’s brother and sister-in-law and then my brother and sister-in-law. In between all that, we had our regular activities including our granddaughters’ Christmas program at their church, on a Christmas train ride with them and to a tree lighting and parade with them. It was a fun and happy time for us. 

With all this activity and the Omicron variant raising its ugly head,  we did not get to go and place Christmas flowers on Lauren’s grave, which greatly distressed me. My sweet longtime friend Michelle went over and took care of that for me without even asking. I had bought the flowers and they are still in my Christmas closet at home. 

We were able to go back and visit our hometown in Mississippi a couple of weeks ago and I was able to visit her grave again. I took purple flowers for the Lenten season. I was so glad to do that. I’ve said before this is my way of continuing to mother her in the only way I can. (Her sweet friend Brittany was the first one to bring this to my attention, and I never forgot it.) 

I found a sweet picture of Lauren that I had not seen in a long time. I’m going to share it. I see a lot of my Vivian in that picture. 

Till next time…