It’s Not Things or Money That Makes a Great Marriage

My wife and I just celebrated 27 years of marriage over the weekend. We are both in a career transition and as a result our finances are a bit tight. She is graduating this coming week with her Master’s and I’m in the middle of completing another Masters. So to celebrate our anniversary we had to be creative. No cruise or expensive restaurant would work for us this time.

First we talked about our expectations for our big day. When people ask about the secret to a long marriage, communication is a key component. By talking about it, we were both on the same page. So we decided to spend time rather than money.

My beautiful wife fixed (southern term) pancakes (blueberry for her, plain for me) for our breakfast. We exchanged cards. And the only allowance for gifts was a special candy treat for each other. She gave me a bag of my favorite and I gave her a new kind of chocolate candy.

After breakfast we both spent some time studying our school work. For lunch, we decided to take a picnic lunch to the park. We had a great time eating homemade sandwiches and sitting by a lily pond listening to a bull frog and talking.

Back home for an afternoon nap. Then I prepared dinner for the two of us complete with candle and our favorite Kenny G CD. Then off to a movie at the dollar theatre (now $1.50).

We had a wonderful day, did not spend a lot of money, but did spend a lot of quality time together. It’s not the things or the amount of money, but the heart behind all of it. There will be times in the future that we will take a cruise and have a great meal at a nice restaurant. But for now, our relationship is something that money cannot buy.