Anniversary

February 4, 1972 was the date of my parents' wedding. They married in Clovis, New Mexico. The reception involved riding around in a car with my Aunt Susie and Uncle Paul with champagne chilling over ice in a minnow bucket. (This probably explains my own lack of dreams about a big wedding.) The minnow bucket is my favorite detail of my parents' wedding aside from the actual act of committing to one another. I have no idea what they were thinking. Actually, I have no idea what any bride or groom is ever thinking other than "We're in love." The catch is that the happy couples are usually referring to romantic love rather than the more challenging, but also more enduring, agape love. I wonder if Mom or Dad had the slightest inkling what the future would hold for them? What dreams and hopes did they have individually and together--- and did the "his" and "her" versions match up to fit into "ours"?
My perspective on the union is skewed. I see them through the eyes of a child. My vision is limited to that of an observer. Those observations have colored my ideas and expectations. I expect my marriage to have some over-the-moon wonderful moments and some rock-bottom lows with plenty of in-between days. I expect to thoroughly dislike Don on occasion while loving him unreservedly at all times. I expect each of us to make mistakes that affect the other. We invest ourselves in our children, but we will not lose ourselves in them. We will give them wings, and welcome them back to the nest when they need a place to land. We are building a life full of uncertainties, plans, good intentions, heartaches, triumphs, joys, disappointments, laughter, excitement, and monotony.
Thanks.