Forty-One Years

Yesterday was Glenda and my forty-first wedding anniversary. It was a glorious day for the two of us. My aunt's funeral was yesterday, about two hours drive time away. It was at 10:00 AM. I left the house at 6:30 AM, went to the office for a few minutes and then picked Mom up at 7:30. It was nearly 4:30 by the time I got back home for the day. Glenda had to work last night. She got home about 9:30 PM. All total, we saw each other for less than an hour for the entire day.

For those who don't know, I met Glenda while I was on leave in the Army. I can't say it was love at first site, but two days later we were talking about getting married. My problem was I didn't know where I was going. "Overseas somewhere and with a summer issue of clothing, probably Viet Nam!" is what everyone told me. I was smart enough to know that I wasn't going to marry a woman I had just met at a breakfast picnic and then leave her to go to war! We both agreed that if what we had was love, it would wait a year until I got home.

Five days before I was supposed to report to Oakland Army Base to ship out overseas, I met a Staff sergent that I had not met before. I asked him if he knew where APO 96331 was? "Fort Buckner, Okinawa. Are you married," he asked? "No! Why?" I asked back. "Because if you were, you could take your wife along with you and she could live there while you do your tour of duty." I thanked him for the information and went to Glenda and told her we were getting married before I left. She called her folks and told them. We told the people at the college she was going to. We called relatives and told them. Everyone thought we were nuts! The both of us thought we were a little nuts, too.

But, it is now 41 years later, and we are still as much in love with each other as we were from the start. Probably more. Both of us have never once doubted that God gave us the gift of each other. I think I got the better gift!