#1,696 40th Anniversary.

Tomorrow, my mama and daddy will have been married for 40 years. 40 years! That’s 12 years longer than I’ve existed. 3 years longer than my brother has. She was 19 and he was 21 years old in 1974.

Truly, just babies. Tonight Ben and I went over to cook dinner for them to celebrate.

Afterward mama got out the photo album of their honeymoon and their first year of marriage. I love how easily I can see my own face in hers.

Daddy. A TANK TOP? Seriously?

I feel so very lucky to have had parents who stayed together. I know that it’s a great privilege to be children of a strong marriage. I know that children don’t have a say in what happens in their parents’ relationship, and Clark and I were very fortunate in that. I’m so very thankful that Ben and I both saw truly devoted love in our homes growing up. Maybe that’s why marriage has been easy for us? We saw our parents make the decision to love one another for good, every day, forever, no matter what. 
Mama, Daddy. Thank you for finding one another. You’re a blessing to Clark, Amanda, me, and Ben in more ways than we could ever measure.