TWENTY-FIVE!

We lingered at a lovely country inn on a sunny day.

25       Twenty-five is not that large a number until one breaks it down.
Twenty-five of what?
Years?
25 + 25 + 25 + 25 - 2 = 98   The age of my father

Yesterday I received a photo of myself when I was 25 + 6.
Did I ever look young!
  Or, did I age that much?

This is a scanned photo that
a friend found and sent to
me.  I was at a 'singles' retreat.

Hubby and I just celebrated 25 years of marriage this week.
It seems like a long time if we remember all the details of living together this many years.
Yet, it only seems like yesterday as we reminisce over our wedding day.
We lingered longer in our singleness than most people.

I will always love the D.C. area.  We visit annually.

There were lots of reasons we could reflect upon but, for the most part, we simply did not meet each other until all of our friends were married and had children.

Year ONE we were suppose to just get to know each other.
 That was the year that my hubby began to look for a job clear across the country.

Year TWO, just after we celebrated our 1st wedding anniversary, we bought a tiny house just outside of Washington D.C.  We felt packed in like sardines and suffered from sticker shock when we moved from Washington State to the East Coast.  We loved our tiny yard and perfectly gorgeous garden.

Year THREE to NINE we enjoyed beautiful weather, a mild winter, began new jobs and learned 'the ropes' of commuting around a big city.   I even managed to return to school for another degree.  We thought we would stay there forever but we were needed elsewhere.

We moved to the southern end of Florida.
Needless to say, I quickly got use to the heat and loved the freedom of flip-flops while hubby learned to

I miss the water and salty waves and soft beach sand.

attack palm trees and shrubs that would have enveloped us in a heartbeat had he not been aggressive with the pruners and tree saw.

Hubby did his work via the computer and I found work with the church and hospital quite fulfilling.
 I even took a year off to return to school and work on another degree.
 True love is leaving hubby behind for nine months to take care of mom.
True love is for hubby to come see me by taking a two-hour flight north as often as he could.
 If there is anything that can test a marriage, it was this experience.
Yet, we found that we bonded more deeply than ever.
We both grew in appreciation for each other and were very glad when I returned home.

Hubby LOVES this kind of weather.  Good for him.

My work was more than fulfilling yet, when hubby retired, it was my turn to be flexible.  He was more than tired of the heat and longed to stretch his wings in a cooler climate with wide open spaces.

Ahhhh marriage.
We ebb and flow.
 We move to and fro.
 We land in another lovely place with farms and slow moving life.
We learn to crawl at a snail's pace.
Time seems to freeze.
 Yet, we've been here four years.
I think this will be our final home but who knows.

TWENTY-FIVE is a long time if one looks at time in one lump sum.
Yet, breaking the years into pieces makes our life look like a marvelous adventure.
We most likely have been more blessed than most.
We were unable to have children but we have embraced children wherever we lived.
Our 'children' write us at Christmas and send us graduation announcements and let us know when they are ready to go out and meet the world head-on.

An older couple enjoying a lovely jaunt.

Our life has always been an adventure.
In fact, we had an adventure the other day when we celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary.
We drove on an old road to a fun restaurant we wanted to try for the first time.
Our car moved too fast to take pictures but we were surprised by one amish jaunting cart after another.
Couples, old and young, with children and grand children all in their colorful summer garb, enjoyed the warm, sunny day as they drove 'coverless' carts made of the finest wood.
Horses moved gracefully up and down hills as cap strings flailed with the breeze.
Our huge engine-driven piece of metal squeaked

We wave at the kids.  They smile.

by just in time for massive trucks to whizz past all of us.
Dangerous is not the word for it.
Yet, horse and buggy, passenger car and semi-trucks all share the same roads.
Twenty-five years of travel and discovery and we seem to have gone backward in time.
We cherish this opportunity to watch the folk who truly live the simple life.
And so, we begin TWENTY-FIVE more years or however many we will remain on this earth.

I am sure we will find time to rock and lounge but not yet.

We may not make it that far but I am willing to begin counting all over again.
Maybe we will learn to linger longer and slow down a bit more.
Yet, we have so many adventures in front of us.
We are ready.
Just the two of us - and whomever chooses to join our journey - for another 25.