274 Years of Marriage

Yesterday would have been my parents’ eighty-first anniversary. So hard to believe until I remember that my husband’s and my fiftieth anniversary is coming up in August. And March 26^th would have been my sweet sister’s and brother-in-law’s sixty-first. My in-laws would celebrate eighty-two years married in May. Wow! That’s 274 years in total!

It seems just yesterday that we were all just kids. All of us.

This coming May 5 would be Mama’s 100^th birthday. Just doesn’t seem possible. And Daddy would be 103 come July 14^th.

It’s hard to think of the people who raised us and cared for us, who loved us deeply as being that old. But I’m sure our children think J and I are ancient. I hate to tell them just how young we are.

FOREVER YOUNG

True, our physical status may have changed dramatically, but our minds and our hearts still feel as though we’re only in our twenties at the oldest. That will never change.

I look at my husband and I still see that tall, dark, handsome young man who stole my heart the day I met him. Y’all have heard me tell the story of how we’d known one another for a whole week when I told him if he’d ask me to marry him, I’d say yes.

No, we weren’t crazy. When you know, you know.

A COVENANT MARRIAGE

It hasn’t all been roses. There have been challenges as there are in any marriage. But our Christian upbringing whispered to our hearts and souls even in the worst of times, that we were to stay together as God had made a Covenant with us. We didn’t know what that meant when we took our vows. Seriously. We knew what a covenant was, but we had no clue just how serious it was.

But we learned. And we know God put us together for a purpose. We will always fight for us.

Mama and Daddy and Sis and Bub were the same. So were my husband’s parents. Those sacred vows meant something. They weren’t just words. The older you get and the longer you’re married, the more you realize that.

As I remember my Mama and Daddy, my Sissy and Bub, and my in-laws, how we wish you could be here to celebrate with us in August. Happy Anniversary to each of you. Well done. We miss you and we love you so very much.

274 Years of Marriage @DDuPreeWilliams #marriage #faith #writing Share on X

Blessings, y’all!

No video, just the photo of the organ in Notre Dame de Paris. J and I recessed to this piece after saying our vows and being pronounced man and wife, way back in 1973.  Magnificent!! The organist here is Pierre Cochereau, organist at Notre Dame for a long time. When we were members of the IPC choir in Birmingham, we sang morning Mass in Notre Dame. What a privilege! The piece we sang was by Vierne and featured an antiphonal organ. Our choirmaster and organist, Joseph W. Schreiber,  played the main organ in the front of the church and conducted us while Cochereau played the antiphonal organ in the rear balcony. When we finished, Monsieur Cochereau said to Mr. Schreiber over the speaker at the organ, “Bon, bon, bon!” A compliment, indeed, coming from such a master. An experience we will never forget. I know most people wouldn’t choose to march out to such a piece after just being married, but remember, I was a music major!! This piece was new to me and was all the rage in those days. It brings back precious memories and makes me cry every single time I hear it. Do listen to a newer version of this so the sound will be clearer. This recording is 64 years old!! Please tell me heaven will be like this!!