Twenty five years

Twenty-five years is a long time for most anything. These days it is an eternity for a marriage with so many ending in divorce and many choosing to forego marriage altogether. Those that make it to that silver anniversary have surely gone through many ups and downs. There have been good times and bad times. Through it all they have chosen to stick together. Today marks the 25th anniversary of my wedding. As I anticipated this day coming, I heard myself saying it would have been my 25th wedding anniversary. But that is wrong. It IS my 25th wedding anniversary. Ben’s death doesn’t change the fact that today is the anniversary of our wedding.

As I reflect back on the last 25 years, a lot has changed. There has been job loss and new jobs. Two wonderful children were added to our family. We purchased a house. Ben’s mother passed away. We celebrated the wedding of our daughter. COVID caused the world to lose their minds and lock many things down. It also stole many lives unnecessarily, including Ben’s. Through all the good times and the tough times, it was always a comfort to have a partner walking beside me through life.

I am grateful for the 22 years that Ben and I had together. I can’t imagine having spent those years with anyone else. We had a lot of fun together. When I would hear news of someone’s marriage ending via divorce, I could never imagine not having Ben beside me in life. Or not wanting to be married to him anymore. He was stuck with me for the rest of our lives.

For our 25th anniversary Ben wanted to go to Israel. He missed out on that opportunity. Instead of walking where Jesus walked, he got to meet Jesus face to face. I am hoping to get the opportunity to still go to Israel. If things in that part of the world ever stabilize enough for tour groups again, I will be going. It won’t be the same without Ben but I feel like he would tell me that he would still want me to go.

Over the years as our anniversary approached I would look up the significance of that specific anniversary. Each anniversary through the 25th have a traditional gift or theme. They even have modern versions of the traditional gift/theme. The 25th wedding anniversary is considered the silver wedding anniversary. So in light of that I went online to see what kind of gift I could order for myself. The picture above is what I ordered. It is a real rose that has been dipped in silver. Ben probably wouldn’t have ordered something like that for me. He would have spoiled me somehow though. While I miss Ben immensely, especially today, I am also very grateful to have had him in my life.