Fourteen years is both long and short. As my husband and I recently marked our 14th wedding anniversary, we had time to reflect on the changes in our lives during those years but we both agreed that even had we known what the future held then, we would still have married with the same joy.

In those years, we have moved three times. The first two moves were on the same piece of land. We have bought and sold property, changed from country mice into Neosho residents. We have had three children and lost another early in a pregnancy.
In the early years, our number of children equaled or exceeded our years of marriage and we are thankful that we have bypassed that particular milestone. Fourteen or more children might be a blessing but imagining it is beyond my comprehension.

We have celebrated the Fourth of July with fireworks and fried chicken, decorated Christmas trees, and gone trick-or-treating. We have cooked more turkeys than we can count, for Thanksgiving and for other occasions including Sunday dinner. We are on our third freezer, our third refrigerator, and our third washer and dryer pair.  

We survived ice storms and various modes of severe weather. We have changed vehicles multiple times, trading the old for the new and on a few occasions, the new for the old.

We have, like most folks, had lean periods and prosperous periods in our joint life.
There have been times when we received windfalls and times when we scrimped. I have advanced my writing career in many directions in the last 14 years, a trend I hope to continue.

We have experienced both birth and death, deaths including my father-in-law and both of our grandmothers. We have seen our collective extended family shaped by birth, death, divorce, and relocation. Together we have attended both weddings and funerals. Changes of name, residence, employment, or marital status have not altered the fact that we are family.  

We have gone back to school as parents instead of students. We have attended parent-teacher conferences, holiday parties, school programs, and open houses. We have even watched our twins attend their first “dances” at the middle school. We have put our children on the bus and we have been parent chauffeurs as well. We have watched our children grow from dependent infants into self-sustaining creatures that still need guidance and assistance.   

We have had pets and we have lost pets. The dogs and cats were a part of our life and now are part of our memories.

We have gone to church as a couple and as a family. Our differences in denomination when we wed are gone after my husband’s choice to join my church. We have seen our children baptized and grow in their own faith.

We have traveled far and we have stayed home. We have upgraded our homes and replaced furnishings with newer models. We started out with minimal furniture and now we have a houseful.

We have stayed in fine hotels and swam in the ocean. We have revisited history together and taken our children to visit some of our own history.

In 14 years, we have seen both Neosho and the wider world change in many ways.
New businesses have come to Neosho and others have become history. The war in Iraq, the current economy, and weather changes have all affected us on a personal level. Our country changed on the morning of Sept. 11, 2001, in ways that are still shaping our nation. We have lived through two presidents and we have voted in every election, large or small, since our marriage.

In short, we have thrived and survived. So has our marriage. With the changes and events, we have seen in 14 years, I cannot yet imagine the changes that we may see in the future.

As an experienced marital partner, I salute all married couples whether they have been married weeks, a few years, or decades.