Twenty-Eight

Twenty-Eight

By John W. Vander Velden

In life, most of us would like things to stay as they are.  But life is not stagnant.  For if life remained puddled and un-changing then perhaps after a time it too, like a pool of standing water, would lose the very vibrancy we need. 

There are the changes most profound in our lives, and the binding of my life to another ranks high on that list.  But looking back…and remembering…I can still see that day clearly.  A snowy cold March day.  I remember the snow blowing across US 6, thin white wisps skittering from left to right as Jim and I drove to the church.  The hours standing in a small noisy Sunday School room, the excitement and tension that filled the space I shared with family members and Gerrit, my closest friend.  Strange that on that afternoon someone else would become my closest friend.  Not that I don’t think the world of Gerrit, but he would understand, it’s the way it should be.  Like I said life’s changes.

Much of that day is a blur of hours and events.  But I remember how I felt then…how seriously I took the significance of that day.  To me the vows taken then were forever… Frightening isn’t it.  I think it should be.  I remember waiting at the front of the church for a beautiful woman.  A woman that for whatever reason, foolishly agreed to tie her life to mine.  I remember her trembling lips and all I wanted to do was let her know everything would be alright.  But I was not so young or naïve that I could, in all honesty, make such a promise.  For I understood that in life things change, and no one could guarantee the perfection of smooth sailing in our future.  All I could do was promise that no matter what, we would face…the whatever…together.

That was the promise I made that day.  That is the promise I make each day.  That one plus one is so much more than two.  And a truly bound couple is a force to be reckoned with.

But today I must convince myself it has been twenty-eight years.  Surely it cannot be. 

Wasn’t it just....

Well, no….I guess it wasn’t…

But when I allow myself to think about all the things we faced, all the challenges, all the problems overcome, all the wonderful times, all the things we have done and seen together…well then…I guess…yes, it has.

Life continues to change, and we continue to grow with those changes.  I still cannot promise that everything will be alright, that the future is all blue skies and songbirds.  But I cannot imagine facing… the whatever…without Jackie at my side and am grateful I don’t have to.

So I wish my beloved, Happy Anniversary, and state here and now, that she is the best thing that has entered into my changing life.  Together, my love, together we have all the years that God gives us.  Together we can face any changes that lie ahead.  Together we can look past storm clouds to the rainbow that will come.  For twenty-eight is but the beginning…

(534 Words)  3-16-2017