Today I turn 60

June 27^th: Today I turn 60.  Sixty trips around the sun and I am still kicking.  It is quite an accomplishment to arrive safe and sound at this point and I am grateful and feeling incredibly blessed.

Happy times on board 'Lizzy' watching the sun go down.

So this week along with turning the magical 60, my husband and I celebrated our 40^th wedding anniversary.  Wow.  Quite an accomplishment especially when ‘they’ thought the marriage would never last.  HA HA I say.  Joke’s on you!  

Marrying the love of my life is a privilege denied to many.  I was/am blessed.  The first date – I knew.  He tells me the same thing.  So there is the ‘chemistry’ thing that we don’t always take into account when you meet someone.  It is the ‘magical something’ that you cannot even explain.  The only thing I knew that night… I wanted to spend the rest of my life with this boy/man.  Now I know there was a lot of water under the bridge until we were finally hitched, but suffice to say Every. Single. Person.  after him… I compared to him.  So unfortunately the others didn’t have a chance.  Cool.  

How do we do it (how DID we do it)?  There is no magical formula or answer.  Except to say, it is a journey – one not necessarily smooth at times and wrought with challenges and soul searching.  At the end of the day (I can’t believe I am actually using that cliché), I DID know what I wanted.  He was it.  One thing I know for sure:  I married for love.  Whatever came after was a bonus.

I will write a book about it…the ‘it’ being some of the challenges of a life filled with hard work; sacrifices; unconditional love; trust and devotion.  Someday….yes... someday I will finish what I started and it will be closure.  It is the past and I don’t live in the past but it is ripe with writer’s fodder so I can’t resist.

So Happy Anniversary my love.  And God willing we will have many, many more anniversaries to celebrate.  This year we celebrated with an intimate evening aboard our new (to us) vessel.  It was fitting.  We have realized our dreams.  Live is good.  Our lovely ‘Lizzy’ was part of our Anniversary celebration.  All is well and life is good.

"Lizzy" cruising into port with the captain at the helm.