Decades:
Two days ago, I celebrated my 10 year wedding anniversary with Michelle. I look back at pictures of that day and think, "Man, I was young." And I was... but I don't think I was too young. I was pretty zen about it -- I felt it was just something that was right for me. I hadn't rushed into it; I'd put a lot of thought and consideration into it, for a year before the proposal, and another year since. If I'd waited another 5 years, I wouldn't have had my dad there, or Samantha, as within a little over 4 years later, both would be claimed by cancer. Other people commented that I was the most cool and collected groom they'd ever seen. M, on the other hand, was a nervous wreck. In the years since, it hasn't gone perfectly smoothly -- there have been arguments, and things have gone wrong. It's been hard work, at times, to make it work. But it's been worth it.
Yesterday, if my grandfather hadn't passed last autumn, would have been my grandparent's 70th anniversary. They served as inspiration for us both, on so many levels. Opa had been an elementary school teacher, then principal, since... I want to say the late 30's but no later than 1940, until he retired, with only one break to join the Navy in WWII. Omi had been an elementary teacher since shortly after my mom was old enough to go to school, leaving Omi home alone a lot. They served as an inspiration to my own teaching career, and I still speak with Omi quite a bit about teaching. They were from a different generation of teachers, of course, when there were different concepts about what makes a good teacher, but they were still pretty compatible with my own ideas. They never hit their students; they tried hard to help all students learn; even in the 40s and 50s, my grandfather worked hard to reach out to immigrant students, because he understood they needed the help more... and he was successful. They were incredibly progressive.
But their decades of marriage also helped serve as the inspiration to Michelle and my own marriage. We married the day before their 60th wedding anniversary, so there was family already in town for one celebration. M & I stayed in town one night so we could celebrate their anniversary with them before we headed out on our honeymoon.
I spoke with Omi yesterday, and we had a good talk. We both cried, of course, missing Opa deeply, as yesterday was the first anniversary she'd celebrate without him since WWII. But I also told her how much they had inspired both Michelle and me. Without them to serve to show me it could be done... I don't know my life would even remotely resemble what it is today. And I thank them both for that, from the bottom of my heart.
Yesterday, if my grandfather hadn't passed last autumn, would have been my grandparent's 70th anniversary. They served as inspiration for us both, on so many levels. Opa had been an elementary school teacher, then principal, since... I want to say the late 30's but no later than 1940, until he retired, with only one break to join the Navy in WWII. Omi had been an elementary teacher since shortly after my mom was old enough to go to school, leaving Omi home alone a lot. They served as an inspiration to my own teaching career, and I still speak with Omi quite a bit about teaching. They were from a different generation of teachers, of course, when there were different concepts about what makes a good teacher, but they were still pretty compatible with my own ideas. They never hit their students; they tried hard to help all students learn; even in the 40s and 50s, my grandfather worked hard to reach out to immigrant students, because he understood they needed the help more... and he was successful. They were incredibly progressive.
But their decades of marriage also helped serve as the inspiration to Michelle and my own marriage. We married the day before their 60th wedding anniversary, so there was family already in town for one celebration. M & I stayed in town one night so we could celebrate their anniversary with them before we headed out on our honeymoon.
I spoke with Omi yesterday, and we had a good talk. We both cried, of course, missing Opa deeply, as yesterday was the first anniversary she'd celebrate without him since WWII. But I also told her how much they had inspired both Michelle and me. Without them to serve to show me it could be done... I don't know my life would even remotely resemble what it is today. And I thank them both for that, from the bottom of my heart.