Monday, March 15, 2010

Happy Anniversary, Jeanne and Walter!

I'd like to send out anniversary wishes to my dear friends, Walter and Jeanne, whose 30th Wedding Anniversary is today!

Some would say that thirty years of marriage is quite an achievement, but I say "Bunk!".  What's so great about living, working, playing and staying together for thirty years in both good times and bad,  anyway?  

  Sure,  50% of marriages today don't last for five years let alone twenty or thirty, but those people face real challenges,  like not enough time to go out playing with single friends,  partners that expect them to grow up and behave like adults,  children that come along and ruin everything.  Compared to hardships like these,  I have to admit that my friends really had a walk in the parkI don't like to tell tales out of school, but between you and me,  Jeanne and Walter finished growing up in college,  have always been responsible adults and welcomed their children joyfully and unselfishly into their lives.  So one is forced to wonder--where was the challenge in their marriage?  Sounds like a skip down easy street to me,  really.

Look, let's just cut to the chase here.  Just because Walter and Jeanne managed to stand as a beacon of hope to all the couples they've known over thirty years that is no reason for everyone to start falling all over them with congratulations and admiration!  Now, if they had only raised two accomplished and beautiful daughters and a fine, handsome son,  maybe their successful 30-year marriage would be worth talking about!  All right, they did do that,  but come on people - how easy was that?  Twenty plus years of constant vigilance, loving guidance,  hard work and knowing when to laugh and when to get tough is,  let's face it,  a tiptoe through the tulips when it comes naturally to people,  as it apparently did for Jeanne and Walter.  It's not like they had to work at it or anything!

Take neighborhood involvement:  why do people insist upon waxing all poetic about Jeanne and Walter just because they are leaders in the community?  It's not as if they don't enjoy it!  Sure, they are always ready to lend a hand to a neighbor in need,  keep a sharp eye out for the welfare of children, the sick and the elderly in the 'hood,  are the first people anyone calls for news, advice or practical help and throw the best damn Fourth of July parties in the state of Ohio!  Like a well-oiled machine with perfectly calibrated dual engines,  they are the couple who makes everything happen for all of their friends - and friends of friends and even friends of friends' relatives and friends.  They never leave anyone out of the loop --all are made welcome and pulled into the warm Rothville circle.

But what I want to know is: what have they really done to deserve our warmest praise?

This business of congratulating people for stuff that seems to come to them as naturally as breathing is really quite perplexing if you ask me,  but I am nothing if not diplomatic,  and so I congratulate them on their awesome pretty good achievement anyway.

Happy Anniversary,  Walt and Jeanne.  Here's wishing you 30 more great years together!

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