Tomorrow would have been Ruth and my 52nd wedding anniversary. We fell 349 days short.
Since Ruth and I eloped to Las Vegas, we’ve revisited the city dozens of times. A couple of years ago, we decided we’d spend a few days in Vegas each September to celebrate our anniversary. We made it every year since our decision. She’s not flying out this year but I am.
I planned to fly out alone. When I told the kids, David and Michael decided to fly out too. By the time you read this, Michael will be back in California. David and I fly back to Grand Rapids later today and I’ll spend the night with David and his family.
We had a wonderful surprise. Elizabeth showed up, unannounced, on Friday night. Her brothers were sending texts about our adventure, so she bought a last minute ticket and flew in. She was only with us for twelve hours, but we made them count. We all realize we must make the most of the time we have.
This will be my first September 11th alone in the past fifty-two years, so I’m not sure how the day will play out. I expect it will be like most others these days. Being with the three kids on the days leading up to the 11th and hanging with David and his clan for a few minutes on Monday, will be great. I know we’ll talk about Ruth, and share some stories, but I’m ok doing that. That’s what life is all about. Collecting your memories, stringing them together, making sure you’ve lived a good story.
I asked Ruth to marry me on September 10th, fifty-two years ago today. We moved forward very quickly. It’s one of the grandest wedding stories you’ll ever hear. We made decisions as we needed. That’s pretty much how we lived our entire fifty-one years and sixteen days. We’d get an idea, discuss it briefly, make a plan, and move on.
It’s time for me to do that.
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