One of my happy pastimes is going to events that mark passages in the lives of old family friends, people who I am connected to through my parents mostly. I generally go with my oldest brother Dave, though sometimes by myself. I love it -- even the funerals, sad though they may be. They connect me with my parents, who have both been gone for some time now, and with my past which, seen through the lens of 50 years is actually looking and feeling pretty happy for the most part. Attending these events, being the steward of these connections is a role I have taken on, and one that I love.
Today was no funeral, however.
This afternoon I had the honor and pleasure of going to a party to honor 40 years of marriage for old friends of my family, Charlie and Louise Uphoff. The Uphoffs and the Grindrods go way back, back to my parents' youth and their days as young Socialists. My parents frequented a place called Fellowship Farm, that was overseen by Walter and Mary Jo Uphoff, the ad hoc "parents" I guess, being a few years older. In fact, my parents were married at Fellowship Farm, under the auspices of Walt and Mary Jo (and a radical minister named Shorty Collins.) Many years later, their son Charlie brought his wife Louise to live at Fellowship Farm. It was the late sixties/early seventies. I was on the cusp of adolescence and I thought they were one of the coolest, hippest couples I had ever met. They lived in a ramshackle farmhouse with tattered peace posters on the wall. They had a chair in their living room made out of the hood of a VW Bug -- how cool is that? I'll answer for you -- REALLY cool! And then they did something even cooler -- they had a baby, and I got to babysit for her!
So now 40 years have passed and I was reflecting on all of that. We're coming up on our 23rd anniversary. I hope that we can celebrate our 40th in such style, surrounded by loving family and friends, children and grandchildren. And I hope we inspire some other young person, show them a model of a happy marriage.
And I will keep maintaining these connections as long as I can.
Currently Reading ...
Dexter, an unofficial sponsor of Occupy Wall Street says,
"Tax the rich!"
Scientists say that Luminiferous Ether isn't real, but we know better!
Don't tell anyone I told you ...
- Suzy
- Proud to be a public school teacher for 26 years, I see teaching as a radical act. Practitioner of Neo-schoolmarmism. School Library Media Specialist. I am a convinced Quaker, born again agnostic, mother of 3 daughters, passionate about issues of peace and social justice. My mom was a "red diaper baby", my dad was a conscientious objector during WW2, and I grew up in the thick of anti-war protests in Madison, Wisconsin in the sixties. Not a Republican bone in my body and not many Democratic ones either.
Peculiar, and (Quietly) Proud Of It!
Molly, loved and missed.
The Stack Next To My Bed
Let's see, that means I'm 32% evil! Bwahahaha.
Wall of Shame ...
2 comments:
Wow! That's wonderful. And the shocker is that 2011 will be CB's and my 40th wedding anniversary!!
Congratulations, Jan! Your family also seems very close and loving. I suppose I could be closer to my fortieth had I married younger. I was 27 when we married.I was one of those young women who would have happily married and had babies at 19 had the situation presented itself! Just as well that I didn't, though.
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