90 Years of Wedded Bliss

Last night my family and I celebrated the anniversaries of my parents and grandparents - 30 years for mom and dad, 60 years for Mema and Pop pop (my grandparents). That's a total of 90 years, which is a pretty huge accomplishment if you ask me.

We went out to dinner at this wonderful Italian Restaurant in the middle of the Oceanside fields, called Rosina's. The owner, Rosina, and my grandparents have become very fond of each other, and it's been a favorite of theirs for the past year. The cuisine is authentic Italian food, with recipes inspired from generations upon generations of Rosina's family. Though she wasn't there last night (I had the pleasure of meeting her when I went there with my grandparents back in May), she made sure to make the evening special by giving us a complimentary anti-pasta made of fresh squash, eggplant, mushrooms, and red peppers. We also shared stuffed banana peppers with mozzarella and sausage. Our entrees were a spread of delicious Saltimbocca, the Escarole fish special, four cheese fettuccine with Italian sausage (the best and heaviest dish), and chicken Parmesan. Overall, the dinner was fantastic and the company even better.

I gave my grandparents a first edition paperback of Gone With the Wind, which I purchased at the bazaar outside my office on Thursday for only $6.00. My grandmother loved the gift, and praised me for my thoughtfulness. But in all honesty, they deserve much more than a book to celebrate their sixty years of marriage. My grandparents met at Penn State after my grandfather returned from the war. They were married after knowing each other less than a year, and even though they joke all the time about how they don't like each other, it's clear that they have been happy ever since.

My parents also met in college in Baltimore. They were married after about 4 years of courtship, and they drove across country to San Diego from Baltimore after their wedding. I was born a few years later, and my brother three years after me. As I've grown older, my parents are more open about stories of how they met and things that happened while they were dating. Last night my dad told me how my mom cried on their first night out at dinner when they moved from Del Mar to Encinitas because they weren't eating at her favorite restaurant anymore. They've since made it through 5 other moves, several different jobs, two college tuition's, 5 pets, and some pretty horrendous family vacations - I'm not even going to get into the disaster that was Key West December '04.

What's the secret to a happy marriage? From watching my parents and my grandparents, I'd say it's a few things: 1) the ability to laugh together and to have fun, and not to take each other too seriously. 2) the ability to make decisions together, even if it means letting go of your stubborn views. 3) The ability to be honest with each other, and especially with your children.

Here's to you guys! Happy Anniversary, and may you have 50 more combined years of wedded bliss!