Does it seem possible that two young people could meet at the ages of 16 years old and 19 years old and marry 3 years later and stay married 50 years. Well, I'm here to tell you it is possible and has happened to John and me.
We met at a dance in 1952 and have continued dancing through life together. Do we love each other? First of all I have to say at 16 years I didn't really know what love was. John was handsome and attractive and kind to me. From the beginning he dropped all his buddies and spent all his time with me. He has always made me feel special. To this day he puts me first in his life. He spoils me. But it wasn't always that way. Money was tight in the early years. Four children by C-section in five years took a big toll on my body. Our first baby girl Antoinette Marie was born May 24, 1956. She lived a few short hours. John sat by my hospital bed and held my hand and we cried for our little dead baby. Our daughter Rosetta was born July 2, 1957, John III was born May 24, 1959 and Paul was born March 6, 1961. I always had two babies in diapers and needless to say I worked myself to exhaustion keeping up the home, cooking, cleaning, educating and caring for the kids, sewing all our clothes and baking every day. I kept the budget straight and made the dollars stretch to meet the bills and sometimes we had a few extras.
I am not sorry for all the years of hard work. John raised early in the morning and went to work. He worked 10 to 12 hours a day driving an 18 wheel semi truck. He was a local driver which meant he came home for dinner each night. He put 250 a day on the truck driving around the San Francisco Bay Area. He came home exhausted and dirty and hungry and I always had a great dinner ready for him, clothes ironed and the house straighten up. I was proud of the hard work I did for the family. I always thought that if John could work so hard for us that it was my job to make our home and family something he could be proud of.
On June 26, 2005 we celebrated our 50 year anniversary by renewing out wedding vows and a reception followed with a buffet dinner and a dance to a 16 piece band, The Eureka Brass. The music was terrific and John was in the mood for dancing with all the ladies. He wore a white dinner jacket and son Paul wore a white dinner jacket and walked me down the aisle. John looked so handsome that I couldn't help but want to marry him again. Of course I wore a long blue gown altered to fit me just right. I also wore a white orchid corsage similar to the one in my wedding bouquet.
All our family and friends were there. We had 140 people at the reception celebrating our great day. We have beautiful memories to last us a life time. Fr. Ron officiated at the ceremony and it couldn't of been more beautiful. Our granddaughter Lindsey read one of the readings and our friend Alan Knapp read a reading from the Book of Ruth. At the reception our son Paul gave us a champagne toast, our granddaughter spoke about us and our nephew David spoke about us. David and his wife Lydia gave us a beautiful gold cross with 50 years on it and had it blessed during the renewal ceremony. It hangs over our bed and has a deep meaning for us.
We requested no presents, but many people gave us beautiful momentos of the event along with wonderful cards telling us they loved and blessed us. It was one of the happiest days of our lives and we shall cherish it all the days of our lives.
