Still Rockin' after all these years

Then
















Now


Here in MadgeWorld we encourage comfort. Like practicing your electric guitar in your bathrobe while watching Entertainment Tonight and balancing on a core board. It's important to make every minute count, especially at our advanced ages.

Never underestimate the value of surprise in keeping a relationship interesting. And humor. And a healthy dose of cynicism. On one of our anniversaries, a huge bouquet of red roses arrived at my office. The enclosure card read, "Madam. I regret to inform you that we have been married for 17 years."

I'm as amazed as the next guy that The Mister and I have survived 32 years of marriage.
- 8 different addresses--6 of those as homeowners.
- 4 children in the first 10 years.
- Over $250,000 in groceries.
- At least 250 parent teacher conferences.
- 68 purchases with an "assembly required" disclaimer.
The years fly by. It's the days and nights that seem long.

There's no secret to the longevity of the relationship. We merely approached life together assuming that we will stay married. No matter what. As The Husband said to one of the offspring recently, "It's called commitment. You ought to try it." It would be safe to say that we don't overthink or over analyze -- there's not a lot of discussion about The Relationship. That's not how we roll. We'd rather fight over the remote. Or why I think watching golf on TV is BORING.

Money seems to cause marital discord. But, unlike a lot of couples all our money goes into one big pot and I take care of it. There's no separation of Your Money and My Money. It's all Our Money. Interestingly, both our parents gave us the same advice as we innocently headed into marriage with Meggie on the way. Have a designated driver when it comes to managing the family money. When we got married, I converted my checking account to a joint account and we were off and running. (Steve existed on a cash economy. Literally, he cashed his paychecks and kept the money in a box.) I could have stolen it then and could steal it now and escape to Tahiti, but he trusts me and so far I'm still here. Not that I haven't occasionally considered it . . .

It's been, in a word, INTERESTING. Semper fi, baby.

Listening to: Someone Like You, Van Morrison
Currently Reading, Manhattan Transfer, John Dos Passos