Last Saturday my husband and I had a party. It was to celebrate our 65th wedding anniversary. And, I’m glad to say “IT WAS GREAT.”
It all started a couple of months ago when we decided that now is the time to have a party. Not everyone gets to celebrate a 65th wedding anniversary. With our real anniversary being back on Jan. 25, we needed to postpone it until winter was over, so July was the best time.
We had to be sure that our older daughter could make it home from where she lives in Florida. With the time being decided, our two daughters took over the plans completely. The only thing for us to decide on was the location. And, since George and I met at our church in March of 1957, and got engaged in 1958, and then got married there in 1959 and have attended the same church for the entire 65 years since, we decided it is the place to have it.
The plans were made, the invitations were sent out, the decorations were purchased, and the food was decided on. All I had to do was to address the envelopes. I started by giving the invitations to all the members of my Sunday School class. They are the persons I have been meeting with on Sunday mornings for years now. Then came sending invitations to all our relatives. These are the important people in our lives whom we want to hang on to for as long as possible.
That left just our friends. Where does the line start and stop when it comes to persons we consider friends? My feeling is that I consider almost everyone I have ever met to be a friend. When I tell you that I invited someone who I had only talked to on the phone for an hour, you might be surprised that she came. Then there are those we haven’t seen for years. We have a friend from back in the 70s who moved away, but has remained a good friend ever since. Another friend is the couple who turned George’s one-room schoolhouse into their lovely home. We sent them a letter to see if we could come to visit, and we got to see it inside. And, of course, there is an owner of the Brown Jug restaurant we wanted to have come to the party, too. In fact, we found his parents’ names in our wedding book because they had signed it back in 1959. I also have four great high school friends, and we have been named the “Fab 5” by one of the husbands. When we got together in Florida, he sent each of us a T-shirt with Willis High School pictured on it.
We don’t want to leave out our daughters. They have been working toward this party for over a month. They had to take their vacation time from work to make all the parts of the party work out well. Right down to posting signs for the parking problem with so many cars and such a small parking lot. They made the party something we will never forget. Their names are Cathy and Carolee. We have enjoyed a great life with them. We are very fortunate to have been in good health all these years to get to this high number of 65 years of marriage. We never dreamed back in 1959, when we cut our wedding cake in the basement of our church, that we would be having a party in that very same spot 65 years later!
So, the above is what you do after a party. You write out everything you can remember about your party. It’s so you will never forget the day.
Kay E. Conklin is a retired Delaware County recorder who served four terms. She graduated from Ohio Wesleyan University with a degree in sociology and anthropology.
