60 years

"Pit" is my dad's nickname...it is some sort of French Canadian word that means "little one" or "baby."
I studied French in high school and college, but I can't figure it out...it must be slang or something

The anniversary party for my parents was quite nice.  They knew about it, but still seemed so pleased to celebrate with their family and friends.  My dad even played his guitar!  Funny, when I was young and living at home, he would play and sing in the basement every Sunday...all day.  It became something I...ummmm...didn't look forward to.  But, after a space of about 24 years, it was really nice to hear him play and sing again:) 

Sadly, we have lost some of my parents' siblings since we celebrated their 50th anniversary.  Dad has lost 2 brothers, and my Mom has only one sister left out of 5 siblings.  Even sadder, was the fact that one of my uncles got married the week after my mom and dad. He died 6 years ago.  My aunt, his widow, came to the party tonight...my heart hurt for her.  Their 60th anniversary would have been this Thursday.

Mom and Dad with 3 of Dad's remaining 4 siblings



One thing I have experienced is the feeling of awe when I see the legacy these long marriages have trailing along behind them.  Whether it is the funeral of someone who has been in a long-term marriage, an anniversary celebration or what have you,  seeing the families and the lives these two people, this married unit, this "one flesh" have touched over the years impresses upon me a sense of responsibility and wonder.
Marriage is so much bigger than the two people it unites.  When marriages last, their influence on the people around them extends out like ripples in a pond.  Love, commitment, endurance patience, persistence, stability...these virtues spread out to the surrounding community.  Similarly, when a divorce occurs, the qualities that characterize divorce are spread also.  Divorce, also, is bigger than the two people in the marriage. 
I look at my parents, aunts and uncles and know that their lives and marriages have not always been easy. But, they stuck with each other, in good times and in bad, in sickness and in health, and the rewards have multiplied exponentially over the years.  Good begets good, virtue begets virtue.  And it is beautiful.