I stood at the altar and watched my beautiful bride walk down the aisle where she joined me as we pledged "for better or worse, for richer or poorer, through sickness and health. till death do us part" in the presence of family and friends and the presence of God. As I looked over at my wife this morning, I still see my beautiful bride and I wonder where the years went as they just seem to have gone by so quickly. We've been through a lot - but then no different than any other couple - but we've always done so side by side and we both have always honored those vows we promised each other so many years ago.
It's easy to look back and reflect and realize that marriage is like a job . . . . you have to work at it and so does your partner . . . . and never stop working at it. But,long ago, I also learned that the secret to a successful marriage is really pretty simple . . . . if you put your partner's needs above and before your own and she does the same and everyday, with kind words, a good hug and kiss and you let them know they are the most important thing in your life . . . . well, it just seems to me that it's pretty hard not to have a great marriage.
When a person is young, they don't "get it" . . . at least most of us didn't. Maybe not this way for everyone, but for me as "I've gotten old", the material things mean nothing. I've seen and experienced too many things in this life not to know and believe in the things that truly are important and the most important thing in my life is that beautiful bride that walked down the aisle in that small town church to join hands with me for a lifetime 51 years ago today. There are no guarantees in life and none of us knows how many "tomorrows" we have. I pray that there are many, but if not, I will leave this world and my hope would be that my last thought will be of my "bride" and that I was one of the luckiest guys there ever was.