Our 50th wedding anniversary is in November this year. Yeah. Hard to believe.
I don't feel as old as I thought that other 50th anniversary celebrants were in the past. (50 years married?! They had to be ancient! )
But here I am, almost there.
It was when I was trying to take a selfie with some of my Valentine horses (or at least, those that are red and pink) when I realized that that also meant this was our 50th Valentine's Day together.
And that begs the question, how do we celebrate that day?
We are in a stage of life where we live a happily quiet life. We are blessed in that we don't need anything. Neither of us wants to travel as our bodies hurt and my walker is an added complication even for just running errands around town.
Going out to dinner or cooking a special meal? While we can and do cook and eat out, we have to be careful. We are both diabetic and I have been working to lose weight. I have lost 50 lbs over the past year.
(Hah! Another 50 celebration - pounds lost, Valentines, and wedding anniversary! And, it's the 50th anniversary of the Kalamazoo Living History Show! 50 must be my lucky number for 2026.)
In the past we have given each other "service coupons" such as giving the other time off when it was their turn to clean the bathrooms or vacuum, cook dinner or clean up after it, and more. But we don't cook much anymore (Sunday dinners with family are an exception) and when our bodies began hurting too much to keep our home clean, we hired someone who does that for us.
Anymore, we both prefer simple over elaborate. Sitting together and holding hands while we watch a show, playing a favorite card game together, exchanging cards with special notes written inside. Laughing together at the antics of the family, be it kids and in-loves, grands, or dogs. And more.
Whatever we do to celebrate doesn't matter as much as that we are together and still happy after 50 years of being each other's Valentine.
And, that we'd both do it all over again in a heart beat.
Happy Valentine's Day, Craig! I love you! xo
