Sunday, April 01, 2007

This is no April Fools' Day Joke

Thirty-five years ago today, my wife and I became engaged. I can hardly believe it has been so long. We were sooooo young!

Today, if my son told me he was getting engaged at age 20, I'd go a little crazy. But when I got engaged, I was merely 18!

I have to wonder now just how many people thought we were both crazy. At the time, neither my parents nor my fiancee's parent said anything negative to us at all about our age, about our decicion to get married, about anything at all. Maybe they knew something we didn't. Maybe they anticipated that 35 years later we would still be partners.

I remember the day we became engaged fairly well. It was a Saturday on April Fools' Day 1972. My fiancee's father and I spent the evening together watching the Toronto Maple Leafs play hockey while I worked up the guts to ask for his daughter's hand in marriage. The next day, on Sunday, I was performing a concert with a band in Peterborough and my fiancee came along with us. We announced our engagement to the crowd since many of those attending knew us both (I was attending college in Peterborough). Now I wonder how many there in the Dublin St. church thought we were out of our minds.

But here we are 35 years later, still together, still very much in love, still anticipating many years together. Things are definitely different, though. Now we look forward to our 2 sons announcing engagements, getting married, having children...or maybe not; that will be their decision.

April 1st, 1972 was a very good day. Today is even better.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Congratulations, Don! It's not every couple that can boast such a long time together.

(If indeed this story is true - you're sure you're not pulling our virtual leg, now, right?)

:D

Don Spencer said...

Ruth,

I played some tricks today on my family and (I hope nobody from work reads this yet) on some work colleagues, but not on my personal or corporate blogs. Awaiting with baited breath to see how the Microsoft "announcement rumor" turns out. If I'm right, I'll get to say "I told you so,"; if not, well, I guess I'll look like a true April fool.

Take care, and good luck with the tour.

Don

bint alshamsa said...

Wow! Don, I forgot to add you to my blog reader so I'm glad that you commented on my blog. It seems that we've been thinking about a lot of the same things.

Congratulations on your marriage! I hope that one day The German and I can say that we've been together that long.