I t is hard to believe that 30 years ago I was fortunate enough to find a young lady whom I would share my life with and start a family. But I did and the writing of this column marks our 30th Anniversary.
In a bit of irony, I was sitting at a manual Underwood typewriter plugging away that Saturday morning and 30 years later I am doing the same thing on a Dell computer. The results are the same--I am still married and still sharing thoughts.
You often hear people joke, “well, he married above himself.” In my case, that is pretty accurate. Nancy is able to complete my life in a big way that has allowed our success.
We are fortunate to have been able to raise two children, stepson Keith and daughter Anna Lauren. I think with Anna Lauren we are going to be raising her for the rest of our lives, but that is okay because she keeps us young.
Early in our career we moved around a bit, first to Troy, Alabama. Nancy did okay with the move but when the opportunity came to move closer to home she was okay with that also.
We moved to Magee 25 years ago and not long after settling in we decided to give a shot at working together.
I think at times she would have liked to take a contract out on my life, and that is not to say I did not deserve it. Now we do our best not to take work home, and that makes things a lot better.
I think one of the things we do that makes our relationship easier is to try to allow each other our own space. For example, Nancy just got back from a beach trip with her friends and I do the same from time to time with golf or hunting.
We do, however, enjoy going places together. Earlier this year we made a trip to Ireland. This was our first overseas trip together and it was so much fun. I have been to Ireland before but going with Nancy made it very special. We have also done cruises, which she really enjoys. We make compromises, which tends to make both of us happy.
We have very rarely gone to bed angry, fewer times than you can count on one hand. When we have, it was my fault.
We are both of the Baby Boomer Generation with older parents, so the way we perceive things is sometimes a bit different from our contemporaries.
It is funny how things have a way of changing over the years. The things we used to value don’t seem to matter as much any more, and things that were not so important have moved up the list. Little things like having the opportunity to visit with family and friends have come to be more cherished that material possessions.
God has blessed us in so many ways. We especially consider ourselves to be blessed to be able to call Simpson County home. Sure, we have had difficult times in our life, but by depending upon each other we continue to be happy and make it through the tough times.
I’m not sure what the next 30 years will bring but if they are anything like the last 30 it is sure to be a lot of fun.
