Annual complaint and boast!

[Pappy]

For those not familiar with the story, in 1974 I had 0ne red rose delivered on Sept 15th. In '75 there were 2 roses, '76 brought 3, '75........

Because the 15th fell on Sunday this year, the florist delivered the bouquet of red roses to my wife late yesterday afternoon. Save the math...There are 40 of them.

It's almost to the point of having to get preapproval at the credit union for the hit on my debit card!

I have spent the last few days digging out and prepping an area to be back filled with decomposed granite for a pool. My son is coming over this morning to finish leveling the bottom so I can take the day off. Except for making a recycle run this morning, the day is hers. I think she wants to go to a jewelry/craft show in San Antonio , then we are going to Kobe Steak House for steak and Australian cold water lobster tails.

For a pair of baby boomers, 40 years of marriage is an accomplishment worth bragging about!

See you guys tomorrow.

[atgcpaul]

Congrats to the both of you!

[bigstick509]

[Whaler]

Congrats Pappy.

[Turaj]

40 years of marriage is certainly an accomplishment and worth celebrating. Congratulations to the both of you. Enjoy the day!

[leehljp]

Congratulations! You have a great woman that will keep you around that long! Roses work!

[Ed62]

I remember a similar post from last year. Congrats. Not too many people can say they've been together that long.

Ed

[chopnhack]

Congrats Pappy and the Mrs. 40 years for anyone is a great accomplishment!!

[gerti]

Hope you guys had a great day. Congratulations!

[Pappy]

Thanks, guys. That wonderful woman has had her hands full at times putting up with me. In spite of the problems that all married couples go through from time to time, she had given me 37 of the best years of my life! (Two took us down some ROCKY roads and the other one I was drunk...)

Seriously, there have been some rough spots in the road. We survived a stint on recruiting duty where the divorce rate for Marines is over 25%. I had a serious drinking problem that, with her help and support, I defeated in 1986. (Interesting note is that we met in a bar.)

She has battled severe problems , both physical and emotional (a lot due to meds she needed), for the past several years.

All bad times aside, I wouldn't trade the last 40+ with her for any amount of time with any other woman on the face of the planet.

My uncle performed the ceremony and gave us 2 pieces of advice. First, fight over the little things before they get too big to handle. Second, learn to love nature. When things get too heated, call a cease fire and one of you go for a long walk to let things calm down.

Ginger tells people that custody issues have been the reason for our success. The first 20 years we couldn't figure out who would get stuck with the kids. The last 20, it was who would get to keep the animals.

Plans didn't go as intended. Her back was hurting and my youngest hadn't showed up by 11:00. With the threat of rain, I finished leveling the pool area. My older son came over with his family ad helped me some. After we finished, I let him take the trike for a ride. After he came back, I took a couple of short rides with the DIL and granddaughter. A great visit that was really the best part of the day.

[LCHIEN]

pappy you should be getting the volume discount and perhaps should have a long term contract.

[Pappy]

pappy you should be getting the volume discount and perhaps should have a long term contract.

Except for a few times that she didn't have enough roses available or that we went out of town, I have used the same florist since shortly after I retired from the Corps and moved to San Marcos. She does give me a little price break.