In the fall of 1965, my mom and dad met in Pueblo, Colorado under slightly magical circumstances and married the following August. Fifty years later they have 3 daughters, 3 sons-in-law, 6 grandchildren, 1 grandson in-law, 1 grandboyfriend, and 2 great-grandchildren, which is a total of 16 more people. (Along the way there were dogs Sable, Puffy, Fozzie, Deppi, Sam, Jack, Max, Molly, Harley, Rome, Spanky, Lola, Sunny, Elvis and Luna the cat.) Troy and great-grandson Hayden couldn’t make it to the party, but the rest of us were there to celebrate in my hometown of Salina, Kansas over Labor Day weekend. There was coffee and hotel swimming, ’50s & ’60s music and a dance party, nephew driving, an earthquake, a horrific ringtone, backyard croquet, a “Music Man” singalong, a 1956 Oldsmobile Rocket, a punch fountain, homemade signs, bourbon, barbecue, frostin’, Pizza Hut, a nostalgic slide show, awkward family photos, a highly inappropriate Mad Lib, the Newlywed Game that the old folks won, and the kind of belly laughter that comes from years and years of building a life together. My dad toasted his bride with these words that nearly killed his daughters: “I once read if you want to love your children, love their mother.”

Five and a half of us (plus a few more) were at my Grandma and Grandpa’s 50th anniversary party in their very familiar living room back in 1987, and though this mostly feels like a lifetime ago (especially with the curly perms and Laura Ashley type dresses), deep inside the memories are very vivid for us.  I was 17 and my dad was the age I am now. Last weekend sitting around my parents’ living room, the same living room they’ve had since before I was born, we realized that the next 50th anniversary party would be mine and Troy’s in 2042.  Huck will be 37. My mom did a quick calculation on a blue post-it note and handed it to me, knowing I like to save such treasures.  It might be too much of a heart-clench to read that in 26 years, but I put it in my Grandpa’s old jewelry box of special mementos all the same.

Thank you, Mom and Dad, for staying together (and in our same beloved house) all these years.  To 50 more!

(Photo Credit: 46 Year Old Bill Hottman!)

(Photo Credit: Lauren Spencer!)