Still Going Strong

"Love is the thing that enables a woman to sing while she mops up the floor after her husband has walked across it in his barn boots."  ~Hoosier Farmer

34 years ago Sunday, these two crazy kids said I do.  

They used a second hand engagement/wedding ring set (my Dad's cousin bought them for his ex-fiancee...).  She wore a $35 dress from Sears.  His brother played the piano.  The two bridesmaids carried yellow roses.  Afterwards, they had cake and mints in the church lobby.  It was simple and small.  But they were happy.  

And 34 years (and two adorable, near-perfect children) later, they're still going strong.

I asked them both to give me the secret to a successful marriage in one sentence.  Dad followed the rules.  The English teacher, however, did not.

Dad:  Trust, communication, and compromise.

Mom:  Be honest, be kind, and don't be selfish; love one another.  Marriage is a commitment, honor it.

I would have put money one the key being for them not to go shopping together.  He's been known, multiple times, to literally kick her out of the truck in the parking lot of a mall and let her shop while we took sheep to the feed yard and then pick her up on the way home.  She's been known to tell him at the barn working cattle, "If you yell at me one more time, I'm going to the mall!"  True love at it's finest, folks.  And when on vacation in San Francisco, they are happy as larks for her to spend the whole day shopping and him to spend the whole day at the Irish Pub in North Beach.  They can say what they want, but that no joint shopping has got to be on the "keys" list somewhere!