It is very difficult to believe Teresa and I have been married 50 years, but, the calendar says it’s so, so I guess it is. Today, June 6, we celebrate 50 years of marriage. It has been my great privilege and pleasure to be married to the absolutely most wonderful woman imaginable.

I would like to say that it has always been a marriage filled with joy, happiness, contentment, and mutual satisfaction. And, for the most part, all of those sentiments are true of our relationship. However, it didn’t get off to the best start. Perhaps you have heard the story of how we met, and the whirlwind romance we experienced, but since it is the BIG one, I will share it again here.

Teresa and I met in a very unusual way. We met on a blind date, of sorts. Actually, it wasn’t a real date at all. Keith “Doc” Craig, Randy Marshall, and I had tickets to attend a Grand Funk Railroad concert. My fiancée (uh, yes, you read that right!) had to cancel out at the last minute, so I was left holding a ticket that would not be used. Randy’s date shared with him that she had a friend who would love to attend the concert, and since it would be a wasted ticket, I agreed to let her have it.

So, I drove to Teresa’s house, knocked on the door, and waited for a few seconds before the door opened. Immediately, an arm reached out of the door, grabbed me by the arm, jerked me in, and a voice shouted, “Sit down!” I was in a mild state of shock, having never met this 89-pound high school senior who was embroiled in a heated argument with her mother about whether she would be allowed to attend the concert with a long-haired, drum-playing hippy they had never met. Teresa adamantly and defiantly told her parents she was going, grabbed me by the arm once again, this time taking me out the door.

I honestly did not know what to think or how to react to this outrageous behavior. If this girl would talk to her parents in such a way as I had just witnessed, what could I expect from her? I was sincerely afraid of what might happen, so for a while I just sat there, not really saying anything. I was hoping that Doc or Randy, or Randy’s date, would engage in conversation with this ticking time bomb so that I could just sit back, relax, and say nothing until we arrived at the concert venue.

But, as the night progressed, we did engage in conversation, and before we got back to Teresa’s house at the end of the evening, I had fallen head over heels in love with this intriguing young woman. So much so, in fact, that two days later I proposed marriage! Yes, you read that right. We met on Sunday evening, February 25, and I proposed on Tuesday, February 27. I actually would have proposed on the 26th but I couldn’t get in touch with her.

I was so serious about proposing that I laid out of work on Tuesday, having made up my mind that the day would not end until I had talked with her, face-to-face. When I popped the question, Teresa reacted just as you would expect – she laughed. Out loud. Deep, hard, guttural, laughter. She, of course, thought I was joking. Who, after all, in their right mind, would propose marriage to a person they had just met? Well, that would be me.

To make what could be a long, long, story short, she did accept, and three months later we were married – June 6, 1973. And now, all these years later, we are still deeply, madly, in love. It hasn’t always been easy. There have been some rough spots along the way. As a matter of fact, just four years into the marriage we had decided to divorce. I was completely self-absorbed, self-centered, and self-serving. All I was interested in was ME. It was at this time that God graciously intervened in our lives, saved us, and set the course for our future. And the rest, as they say, is history.

Teresa has been and continues to be my best friend, my confidant, my soul-mate, my partner in ministry, my co-rider on roller coasters in as many amusement parks as we have been able to visit, the mother of our three children, the grandmother of our six grandchildren, the one who has kept me going when I wanted to quit, who encouraged me in attaining educational goals, writing goals, ministerial goals, and so much more.

I certainly don’t encourage others to follow the path of being married only three months after meeting, but by God’s grace it has worked out for us. And I emphasize that it has all been by God’s grace.

This coming Saturday we are setting out on a 50-day trip to celebrate 50 years of marriage. We have no idea how many more years we will have together on this side of eternity, but continuing in His grace, committing our lives and our marriage to Him, He will see us through to the end.

Teresa, I love you with all of my being, and can’t wait to see what the future holds as we walk into our golden years hand-in-hand and heart-in-heart.

Blessings!