Yes, it is our 69th Anniversary!

Here we are on October 24, 1951. We had no idea what was ahead of u.

The place was the Methodist preacher's home in Cambridge, MD. My mother and I came by train all the way from Los Angeles CA for this big event. My mom and Hap's dad were our witnesses. We went back to Hap's grandmother's and aunt's home for a small reception--and I mean small. I don't think my new husband's relatives were particularly happy about the event. 

We went in three states for our one night honeymoon: Maryland, Delaware and Virginia, at the place where they all meet.

The beginnings were not easy--I won't go into it all--but we started off living in Norfolk VA in a basement apartment where we shared a bathroom with another Navy couple. After the first month I was pregnant and we barely had enough money to eat and after a struggle, I went back to Cambridge to live with the grandmother and aunts. Not easy--but the food was great.

Our first baby, a girl, was born in the Cambridge hospital while hubby was driving a bus in Virginia. He did get home the following day. We moved into a strange apartment in Cambridge but it was much better for me and the baby. When she was only 4 months old we drove back to California--a hair-raising trip.

Those first years were hard--Hap was home sometimes and sometime deployed somewhere far. We lived in half  a quonset hut on the Port Hueneme Sea Bee base, an apartment in Little Creek Virginia, a little house in Oxnard CA and then we bought our first home there. Hap was gone on many different deployments all over the world. He served in Vietnam during the war 3 different times. We had four more children. 

And the times were not easy. There was never enough money. I worked at the phone company off and on.  I PTA'd, and had a Camp Fire group for 10 years. And I was writing. Hubby dabbled in community theater off and on, and was a good actor. We also had many friends and hosted many dinners and parties.

When hubby finally retired, I worked at a child development center as a teacher, and then day cares, and went to college. We had lots of wonderful times with our kids. The kids grew up and got married. Grandkids arrived. We moved to Springville, CA and together owned and operated a residential care home for developmentally disabled women and we did a great job and both loved it. Best time of our lives. 

We've had many wonderful experiences and some hard ones, but our love for one another helped us get through everything. 

So what's my advice about to having a long marriage? You don't give up no matter how hard it is or how hard the struggles. Love grows as you take care of one another, and it definitely helped that we both love God and have worked hard to grow in our Christian life. Looking back we had some wonderful times together and many great memories.

Marilyn