Married 50 years
April 29, 1970
I can’t believe it, not at all. On April 29, my husband and I will celebrate 50 years married. I won’t lie…it hasn’t all been perfect. It’s been messy and neat and everything in between, but it has been pretty darned good. We are proud of us together for so long.
This week is also my husbands 74th birthday and the next day was my brother’s 74th birthday, then my oldest sons 49th birthday. I spoke with my brother today. His comments all skirted around that dirty three letter O word…(old). How did we get this old? When did we get this old? What about our kids, they are getting old too! We don’t know how much time we have left. on and on….
I let him pour it all out then I said…”I guess I look at it differently. I wonder what is coming next” I am a great planner. Admittedly, I am more of a planner than a doer these days, but eventually, once the decent weather sets in here in Maine, we will do something. We plan to make reservations to go camping at Acadia NP sometime this summer. We also are planning a little family party here on July 23….maybe around 20 of the McClearys getting together to visit, eat and swim. It’s been too long. The last gathering was for my mothers funeral and that was overshadowed with loss and sadness. BUT, when my beautiful parents had their 50th, and then their 60th wedding anniversaries, the party was right here in my back yard….eating, playing and just plain raising hell. We all love a good party.
I do have plans. I am limited physically for doing a lot of activities, but as long as Mike is willing to tow our trailer, and I can get my carcass into our truck and throw a few clothes and food in, I am game. I will go anywhere camping, or even for a few days of sightseeing. I don’t need swanky hotels…I just need my little tow along house/trailer. And I suppose I could do with a comfy hotel room for a night or two, although it is not necessary nor what I prefer.
Parties and traveling have been two of the best parts of our union. Our 2 favorite trips were the first time we took our little granddaughter, almost 5 years old, to Disneyworld. We went with our pop up camper from Maine to Orlando, and what a great time. She was a seasoned traveler at that age, because of her ‘circumstances’, living in different places with her mother …moving often. But, this trip was all about her…and the fun we would have. It was amazing, and so was she.
Long after she was grown and she decided we weren’t cool enough to go camping with anymore, Mike retired from work and we spent a year or so working for the US Census (2010). All of that income went into special savings and we took a month long trip out west to Wyoming and Montana. We saw Yellowstone NP and Glaciers NP, among others. It was an adventure and we had an absolute blast. We took our favorite dog of all time, Louie, with us. We camped in casino and Walmart parking lots, and various NP campgrounds and a few private ones. I can’t describe the awe we felt for this experience. It was truly THE camping adventure of our life time.
We have had fun times and hard times. I have fumbled through some health issues and currently fiddle around with arthritis….daily. But, Mike remains incredibly healthy. He keeps our yard and home in working order and he walks every day with our newest little pooch Stanley. I do the piddly stuff like dishes, folding laundry, picking up….it all works out. Just don’t look too closely for dust around the house. We have all read the old poem “Dust if you must” https://www.ellenbailey.com/poems/ellen_218.htm
There have been challenges with our kids as teens, and a bit beyond. Also some of his family have been downright cruel and nasty, with a desire and determination to get all of the family estate. They succeeded, and we have moved on..no use or time for nasty destructive people in our lives. So, yeah…life gets real and it isn’t perfect, but we work our way through.
He has supported and encouraged me through 10 years of volunteer Patient Safety work, sometimes traveling with me to far off places, like San Diego, Atlanta and DC. And when he worked as a US Customs officer, I went with him to a union meeting in Honolulu and spent a month temporarily living in Montreal and 3 months in DC when he was on a temporary assignment.
Before we moved back to Bangor, ME for good in 1987 (where we started out as newlyweds in 1970) we had moved to and lived in 3 other towns, 5 previous houses, and several apartments. Mike always worked at a port of entry and I worked many jobs as a nurse in big and small hospitals, and also in doctors offices and a paper mill. We moved often for about 10 years when our kids were young, and then we settled back home in Bangor, ME on Pearl St. Our lives have been full and fun with travel,interesting work and things to do and see.
We have raised 2 bright, funny and hard working, dog loving sons as well. Their humor, kindness and intelligence is our reward for being their mother and father. I wouldn’t change one thing about them, although they might debate that.
All of this is just a glimpse of what our lives together have been like and how and where we spent it. But, the important thing is that we ain’t done yet. I’m not sure where we will go next or what we will do, but we will plan and do something, and it will be together. Neither of us would know any other way to do it.
Love helps us to figure things out. I recommend it.
Happy 50th Anniversary to us!
50 years later
