Sooo here's a happy monthiversary (special thanks to Amanda and Zachary Heath who coined that phrase in my life) and anniversary blog :)
Happy 1st Monthiversary to Brian and Jen Stoker!!!!
It's hard to believe that it's been a whole month since they said "I Do." One month may be a relatively short amount of time, but I believe in celebrating the little things, so today I'm celebrating their life together. Their wedding day was full of anticipation, praising God, celebrating, having a good time, and recognizing their love. It was a special day, the kind of special day that makes me think about forever love, which is fitting since one month after their wedding day we are celebrating a very special anniversary in the Stoker family.
Happy 70th Anniversary to Ray and Kath Stoker!!!!!!!!!!!!
SEVENTY! That's a big number. I seriously can't imagine being alive for that many years, let alone married, but my grandparents have reached that marker in their married life. Brian and Jen have a good legacy of love in their lives (on both sides, not just the paternal side).
When I was thinking about something to do to celebrate my grandparents' big day I started searching for news on each of their decade anniversaries. That's when it hit me- 70 years is a really long time! My grandparents got married 10 days after the end of WWII- talk about a way to celebrate!! On August 25, 1945, while Nana and Granddad were saying "I Do," hundreds of children around England were being reunited with their parents for the first time in four years. I'd say that's a pretty special day to start your new family. I learned all sorts of other history in my search for significance on their decade anniversaries, and I was reminded yet again of how much they have lived through, how much anyone in their 90s has lived through.
When I was talking about my grandparents' seventieth anniversary the other day one of my students said, "How do you stay married to someone for 70 years? I can't imagine that." Quite frankly, I can't either (being as I'm single and in my 20s and all that) but her question has really made me think. How does one stay married for 70 years? In a world where it seems like more marriages fall apart than stay together, I'm so thankful to have so many people in my life to model marriage commitment. My grandparents on both sides fall into that category. When I think about Nana & Granddad and how they've made it work all these years it gives me hope. They lived through war, they moved across continents several times, they made career changes, they survived life-threatening health challenges, they watched their kids grow up and raise their own kids and now are watching (or have watched) their grandchildren raise their great-grandchildren, they have seen each other grown old and wrinkled, they have CHANGED through the years, and yet they are still together and I would say they are very much in love.
Love is watching my Granddad take my Nana's hand to make sure she doesn't fall, love is making my Nana take her pills every day, love is moving across the globe from family and friends to start a new life together, love is laughing when things get too difficult to do anything else, love is Nana cooking for her family when she never really liked cooking and Granddad taking over cooking when Nana can't anymore, love is sharing chocolate, love is picking out gifts for each other that you know the other person will love (or you know will annoy the other person, and that's just as fun), love is sometimes going on vacations that you don't want to because your spouse does, love is raising children together as a team, love is moving to the other bedroom so you don't wake up your spouse when you can't sleep, love is so very many things that I have learned from my grandparents.
So how do you stay together for seventy years? That's a question only my grandparents can answer, but if I had to guess based on what I've witnessed in them I would say you make choices every day- you choose to compromise, to laugh, to be selfless, and to stick it out no matter what. I'm so glad that Ray & Kath Stoker made that commitment on August 25, 1945. Nobody could have guessed where that commitment would take them. I'm so glad that 69 years and 11 months later Brian & Jen Stoker made that same commitment, and I look forward to seeing where that takes them in the next 69 years.
