Reflections on Marriage, Part 1: Reflections (Part 19)

Categories: Léo’s Insights 2022-2023, Reflections

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I will never forget that moment.  I was sent to the airport to get the bridesmaid for the wedding the next day.  I had no picture, no real description, just a flight number.  Since I was a taxi driver at the time, I was acquainted with the airport and its busyness, so I went in blindly looking for someone I had never met.  And then, there she was!  I politely asked if her name was Faye and she responded in the affirmative.  My life seemed to change in that moment.

I was struggling at the time.  I had completed my two-year NAIT program and could not find meaningful employment.  I was lonely for intelligent adult company.  Faye had completed her Standard A and was teaching in a remote, small town in southern Saskatchewan.  She was also struggling with much the same things as I was. One could say we were attracted by a mutual misery, but that would not be true.

We immediately connected as though we had known each other for years.  Before the night was over, I was head over heels.  I do not remember much about the wedding the next day, other than the best man was struck dumb by the bridesmaid.  I was the best man and that was September 2, 1972.  Those of you who escaped “discovery math” will know that is over fifty years ago.  Six weeks later, in violation of my romantic nature, I simply asked Faye when we should be married.

I had no doubt Faye would be my life partner.  On December 23, 1972, I officially proposed and she officially accepted.  We were married on June 30, 1973.

Being married for fifty years provides me a platform from which to share what I believe is the secret to our marital longevity.  Now, don’t get me wrong.  If I was to say that we have enjoyed fifty years of bliss, you would be correct to doubt it.  One does not reach the milestone of sharing a life with another for over fifty years without making mistakes, having to make sacrifices, learning and changing bad habits.

So, here is the First Lesson
We never quit, even when times got tough.  There was no room for quitting as that option had been removed before we committed ourselves to forever.  We promised and we kept our promise.  This rest is history, fifty years worth.

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