We were married on this date, forty-nine years ago. It was a Friday night, an ice and snow storm blew in during the day. The ceremony started late because my wife’s brother, mother and step-father had not yet arrived, and her brother was giving her away. My mother-in-law was bringing the wedding cake.

Forty-nine incredibly fast years later, we have a daughter, three sons who are triplets, a wonderful son-in-law, three amazing daughters-in-law, and eight adorable grandchildren. Our daughter and son-in-law have three boys. Our oldest grandson is in his sophomore year at the university. One son has three children, another two.

We lived in Illinois when we were married. We eventually moved to Texas, then to Michigan, spent a year in Tennessee, and have been back in Michigan ever since. Obviously, we prefer Michigan, where we were raised.

Our lives are about family. Even though it’s difficult for us all to be together often, when we are, we have a blast. In fact, it will be years before we will be together again, as our son Jesse and his wife Nikki moved to Australia where she grew up, just over a month ago. We miss them terribly, but are happy for them.

We enjoyed the holidays with our family. Today, we celebrated our anniversary with our grandson whose birthday is today. We had lunch at the White Horse Inn, in Metamora, Michigan. Mary mentioned to the waiter that we were celebrating. After dinner she came to our table with a plate of warm chocolate chip cookies, the one in the center held a lighted sparkler. She said, “Happy Birthday!”

After we ate a cookie, we drove over to Holly to visit Altered Designs, and get dessert at The Bittersweet Cafe. We mentioned our celebration to the staff. When our dessert was served the waiter came to the table with the cook and they sang Happy Birthday. Then the waiter held up her finger and said, “It’s a birthday candle, blow it out!” And our grandson did.

Forty-nine years ago, we never could have imagined the blessings we have enjoyed in our life together. We had dreams, but our family far surpasses them all.