40

September 13, 2008, is my parents' 40th anniversary.

About three years before they got married, my mom says they "knew of each other." Two years later, on Valentine's Day, my dad proposed. In June they bought a house for $15,000 and 3 months later they got married. My mom was 30. My dad was 29. They were too old to be single, in that day and age.

They have been through a lot.

They were pretty well off financially when they first got married. They often helped others less fortunate. They traveled often and went out to clubs and restaurants regularly. My earliest memories of my parents are the nights they'd go on dates and leave me home with a babysitter. My mom is taller than my dad but she always wore heels and always had a nice dress and jewelry on.

My dad was a butcher in the family market. My mom quit her job the week before the wedding and has been a stay-at-home wife and mother ever since.

I guess the financial burden of adopting two kids, losing the grocery store and putting kids through Catholic schools finally caught up with them and my teen years were sort of rough. I think it was around year 15 that I thought they'd call it quits. It scared me. I think it scared my mom more. But we were flat broke, my dad was working nights and we were still going to Catholic schools and playing ball and growing out of our shoes faster than you can blink an eye.

But they stuck it out and life turned around slowly. And by the time my dad retired five years ago, they were like kids again. They go on day trips with the seniors group from their bank. They go to matinee shows in the middle of the week. They go fishing. They go to baseball games and clean the house together and go for drives around the city.

I think they like each other.

Happy Anniversary, mom & dad!