We went to a 50th anniversary party last evening, and I couldn’t help but reflect – especially since our own is less than a year away.
50th anniversaries have always seemed to be a big deal. In the not too distant past, one of the two seldom lived long enough for the couple to complete 50 years. Certainly a cause for celebration when that milestone was reached.
More recently, it seems as though many don’t stay together long enough to achieve such a mark. The Golden Anniversary has become more elusive.
But to me it’s not so much that we stay together, but rather who we have become during those 50 years. I would suggest that each party in the couple is a unique product of that long relationship, a manifestation of their own individuality being in a loving relationship with the other.
Sure each could have gone on and done many good things and enjoyed personal growth whether in relationship with another or not. But what we experience in any given couple honoring that big event is a unique product. A different product. Perhaps a better product both at the individual level and as a couple.
That is the benefit of a committed, long-lasting marriage. An opportunity to become a new creation.
In a dim light... 