50+ Lifestyles

PUBLISHER’S CORNER – A Magical 73rd Anniversary

By Dan Adams

Call it good genes, clean living, stubborn attitudes or whatever your family blames it on, but my grandparents just
celebrated their 73rd anniversary. They settled into their home on Higgin’s Avenue in Missoula, Montana in 1951. During those years, neighbors have come and gone, trees have grown and since been cut down. It’s simply hard to believe that they have lived there for 60 years. I was excited to make the trip into Missoula during mid-February. I only had a day to meet with them and specifically planned the trip around having dinner in their kitchen, as some homes didn’t have dining room floor plans 60 years ago. Although they have had the same round table for nearly 20 years, the chairs are new, and the kitchen floor has been replaced about six times.

Fortunately the plane landed with a narrow window between the storms. My parents arrived earlier from Billings after a grueling six hour drive in the snow. I only wish my wife and kids could have joined me but school, meetings and work tends to get in the way of some important things in life, and we can’t always make priorities work. I felt almost selfish having dinner with my parents, my grandparents and my aunt who also made the trip. Then again, I felt a bit lucky to be the only grandchild out of the 25 who could have been there. Jokingly or not, I always told my Grandma that I was her “favorite,” and she never once disagreed.

My grandparents are proud people who traveled as kids up from the states and settled in the lower part of Alberta, Canada. They both had 12 siblings in their families, and out of the 24 children born into these two families, nearly all of them have passed away. Grandpa and Grandma sit most days in the living room, watching neighbors or taking naps in front of the oversized picture window facing the mountain with the “M” so brightly painted on it. The joy of hiking up to the “M” for them is now but a memory, but we laugh and cherish those memories as we sit and listen to them talk about their success and challenges throughout the years. Oh, how I could have sat and listened for hours, I even sat in silence as they both dozed on and off. Time passed, and so did this moment. I wish time could have stood still, but as time goes on, so do we.

As I came home, I hugged my wife Kirsten and our three children (who are not children anymore). I said to Kirsten, “I sure hope we make it around in this life to be married 73 years.” Kirsten and I will celebrate our 28th year in September, which if I do the math correctly, we will need to live to be 91. Now with Grandma and Grandpa a young 90 and 94, I do believe there is hope! So raise your glasses to a long life, precious marriage, families and of course, my Grandma and Grandpa’s 73 magical years.

Dan Adams can be contacted by calling (563) 505-8821 or at
dandadams@gmail.com