I won’t tell you what my mom said to finish that sentence, but it was funny and made both of us laugh. Today is my mom and dad’s 42nd wedding anniversary. Holy cow. That’s a long time, but they still serve as my model for Cyndi and I, along with my grandparents(also still married after 70-something years). We’ve been married ‘only’ 15 years, but we are doing so much better than several friends of mine who are struggling, or who have lost the struggle altogether. My brothers and I(and now our spouses and all our kids) have been blessed with parents who have always surrounded us with love and set a good example for how things are supposed to work out. 
   Although I can remember times when voices got a little raised, or they’ve disagreed about something, they’ve never fought, or at least, never fought in front of us. Some people have told me that married couples are supposed to fight. Bah, maybe in a textbook, but this doesn’t seem to me to be part of my parents’ recipe for happiness and longevity. Maybe their definition of a fight is so mild I never noticed.
   Each year, they seem to enjoy each other more and more, and laugh more and more frequently than when they were younger, often at themselves or at each other. Especially each other. They spend a lot of time together, fishing, visiting relatives and grandkids, and generally going to the same places together all the time. Tonight, they are headed out to the San Antonio Riverwalk. My mom asked me where to go and eat, since Cyndi and I have eaten out down there more often than my folks, and I told them just to wander around for a while and find something. This I can see them doing for a long while, like another 42 years…

I love you, mom and dad, and congratulations!