Happy Anniversary!

This is Don and Carole. They are Owen's parents.

Today is Don and Carole's 36 th wedding anniversary. They have stuck together through thick and thin.

When Don had to stop working for the steam fitters union just weeks before being eligible for his pension, Carole said "Don't worry Don. Everything will work out fine" and then she kept working at as an executive secretary for the Vons/Safeway office in LA until she was eligible to retire.

When Carole's mother, Nanny Joan, could no longer live on her own Don helped Carole prep their guest room for Nanny Joan to move in. He never once complained about taking her to a doctors appointment, or about her constant presence in their home. (A huge part of that could just be because she was so thankful and sweet that she never felt like a burden to anyone, more of a feeling of joy with her presence... but I digress.)

Don and Carole have been there for us a lot over the (short by comparison) years of our marriage. If we were going through a rough patch and couldn't afford to pay our rent and still buy food, they would give us groceries.

They even packed up our apartment for us. When it was time for me to leave California and drive to OK to get Owen from basic training our apartment was less than half packed and still uncleaned. They told me to go and then they packed and cleaned our apartment for us. They packed all of our stuff into our storage unit I had rented and then when it was filled paid to upgrade us to a bigger unit so that all of our stuff would fit.



The point is that they are a wonderful couple who is an inspiration to all couples. They have a fantastic marriage based on trust and communication. I have never once seen or heard them have a major fight. When they do fight, they excuse themselves to their bedroom and then have their fight in hushed tones. They always emerge a few minutes later on the same page.... or at least with a compromise.

I only hope that one day my children will look at my marriage and think that we are as good an example of what marriage should be like .