Golden Afterglow

I think we are both radiating a golden afterglow as reflect on the wonderful weekend our kids planned to celebrate our golden anniversary.

We began with a crab feast on Friday night with small gathering of family and friends at our daughter Ann's house. It was a lovely evening full of food and laughter. I was a bit distracted looking forward to the big party on Saturday, wondering what surprises our kids had in store for us.

Saturday we were told not to arrive for the party until it was time for the festivities to begin, so we spent the morning at a dance recital watching our thirteen year old granddaughter. Since we have no previous experience at celebrating our fiftieth anniversary we assume a dance recital is a normal part of the festivities. Finally it was time to put on our party clothes and head off to the church.

When we walked into the church hall the first thing we saw was my wedding gown displayed on a mannequin. Our daughter wore the same dress twenty-seven years ago, but it had been packed away since then. It is still as beautiful as I remembered it to be. We looked around and the next thing I saw was my three handsome grandsons all dressed up in white shirts and ties. This was not there normal attire and they did look beautiful. The room was decorated with flowers and candles and looked like a great place for a party. A big wedding cake filled one corner with a groom's cake next to it, decorated to look like a left handed dice.

Guests began to arrive and we were busy greeting them when our daughter called us to greet some special guests. There stood Randy and Edna. They had been our best-man and maid of honor. We have not seen them in over thirty years. We had all been best friends in college and for the many years after that. Careers and family have separated us, but our love and friendship has continued. I could not believe they were here. It took my breath away. What a wonderful surprise!


Our son-in-law called everyone to attention and we all sat down as he welcomed everyone and said some sweet things about us. He started talking about our wedding and how they had recently seen some color pictures of the event and discovered that our bridesmaids had not worn gray dresses. They had been a lovely blue. At that point our grandchildren entered the room dressed as our wedding party had been dressed fifty years ago. Our daughter had made the dresses to match those dresses worn at our wedding. Of course I cried as these beloved grandchildren of ours entered the room.


After the grandchildren entered, Gary went on to say that I always said I wanted a brass band to play, “When the Saints Go Marching In” at my funeral. The kids decided that if they were going to hire a brass band they would prefer to have me there to enjoy it. So they had hired a band to play for us. The band played and I cried. The band continued to play as we visited and laughed with friends and family. What an amazing, wonderful party!

We had a photographer for the big event whose pictures we have not yet seen, but I'll share a few now. Rest assured there will be more.

We concluded the day with a cookout at Laurel and Gary's house. It was good to have time to sit and visit with everyone and reflect on the day.

Just to make the week end complete all my children and grandchildren joined us for church on Sunday morning. It felt so good to worship surrounded by the people I love most in the whole world.

It was all perfect. We felt very loved and very honored.