Today it has been 58 years since we were married. Sometimes it seems like forever and sometimes just yesterday. For you young folks we were married in 1962. That will sound like an eon ago. The Viet Nam War was just hotting up. The Cuban Missile Crisis was in October of that year. We were at Ft. Benning and it looked like my 2nd Lieutenant husband might be going to war. Thank God that did not happen. The next event to shock us was that Kennedy was shot in November of 1963. Again things in the military were very uncertain. What a way to start married life.


However, we survived it. We had children, moved from place to place to include his two years in Viet Nam and ended his career with a high note teaching math at the United States Military Academy at West Point.
Our time since then has been living in Savannah, both of us working, me as a nurse and him as a structural engineer. Life has been good. We raised three children all married with children of their own and blessed be all gainfully employed (to include three of the grandchildren).

We had our ups and downs but I wouldn’t trade any of it. Now we look to the next chapter which is rocky at the moment but with planning will settle into a “new normal.” I have been blessed.
Happy Anniversary, my writing friend. My heart is with you in this difficult phase to come. But what a blessed life you’ve had!
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So true and I am sure, even though things change, more good to come.
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Congratulations to you and your husband! 💖 It sounds like you have had a great life together. There will be ups and downs for sure going forward, but you seem the type to have the strength and faith to handle whatever comes your way. That being said, do not hesitate to reach out for help going forward. The support groups for dementia sufferers caregivers are amazing.
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Yes they are! Because of my job as a parish nurse (for 20 years) I go to know them really well. They are truly a blessing.
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My husband had a really tough time when his Dad was struggling with dementia. Going to our first meeting made everything so much better! Dan went from struggling to ‘obey’ his father to ‘taking care of’ his father.
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You do have to learn a new way of understanding. You have to live in their world.
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That was definitely part of Dan’s struggle with his Dad. He couldn’t accept that his Dad’s reality had changed so he would try to convince him to change when he couldn’t. I remember one day when Dan’s Dad was convinced someone had come into his home and stolen a suit. Dan asked which suit and his Dad went and got it, held it in front of Dan, and said ‘this suit – it was my favorite suit. Now what will I wear to church?’. Dan was beyond frustrated trying to convince his dad that he had the suit. Incidents like that were really hard on Dan.
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It is so difficult and you end up not knowing what to say.
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That is for sure. You are both in my thoughts and prayers. Hopefully with the world opening up it will become easier to get the help you will both need.
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You are right. Having to shelter in has been really difficult for everyone.
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