Galactic Gal: Paying Tribute to a 60 Year Old Marriage

Who doesn't love an old fashioned wedding? I certaintly did, 60 yrs ago when I was a flower girl in my Aunt and Uncle's wedding at age 5. Now, at age 65, I am toasting them to 60 years of an incredible marriage filled with five children and all the grandchildren, an extraordinary career of my Uncle Charley with art, art design that spanned space travel to political cartoons for a newspaper to to freelance work to working with Hanna Barbara to luxurious paintings. My Aunt was the stay-at-home, raise the kids Mom, but got her Real Estate license in 1976 and continues to use it! She is a wonderful Auntie to us all.

Just a personal backstory to reflect on. My Aunt held me from birth, watched me grow every step of my journey, then when Uncle came, he became my stand up comedic surprise and when necessary, taskmaster while we all lived on the farm in New Jersey. Later, when we all moved to California, I watched their home being built from bottom up in Orange County and then would stay with them on occasion while my Aunt tried to teach me how to sew. Sorry Aunt Sara, I still failed high school sewing! The logistics escaped me. After I married and carried my one and only child, I found myself traveling to open up Cardiac Rehab centers up and down the coast. I was seriously pregnant and would stay with my Aunt and Uncle on occasion again. I remember settling into a beach home they rented for a while in Newport Beach and the cousins who I adored, catered to me while we ate crab and walked the sand. So many other memories of my Aunt and Uncle and their children have colored my life which play back in my memory for comfort and ease.

Now we hold ceremony ( literally) for the Aunt and Uncle while they renew their vows in their eighties, still hopping on a dance floor despite crickety joints, while their oldest and dearest friends applaud them and toast them and speak so reverently about their relationships.

Nephews, nieces, first and second cousins, in-laws and children and grandchildren were there. Aunt Sara's oldest sibling, my Mom, sat at the honorary table. We watched with awe while a soon-to-be-son-in-law displayed a slideshow of their lives.

A life so full, still so, with Choir at Church every week, traveling abroad, involved in charity work, concerts and Philharmonic Orchestration events, baseball games for the young and graduations too many to count, keeps them alive and on point.

Later in life, what is there left? Not possessions, but caring for and being cared for in a quiet and peaceful ambience so that each minute is savored. Their faith and love for each other binds them.

It was a grand tribute we were blessed to be a part of.

Now the pictures: