Mawwiage, or True Love Lasts

Meet some close friends of mine, R and J. They celebrated their twenty-fifth anniversary a couple of weeks ago and asked me to take some pictures for them. 

I met R way back in kindergarten, a long time ago. We've been friends for over forty years. We've wandered in and out of each other's lives, but now we live in the same town and see each other fairly regularly.

I was so happy when R asked me to do this. Her family is large, boisterous, Italian, and all over the place at an event like this. But R and J remained calm in the eye of the storm, with eyes only for each other, and you could feel the love oozing out from them.

This is kind of an odd picture but I love it. He's supporting her. She's leaning on him.

I can picture them at eighty, holding each other up. 

They have been joined together for twenty five years and have definitely become "one". They finish each other's thoughts, and they finish each other's movements. When one starts to do something, the other jumps in and finishes it. Before one of them can even ask for something, the other is there, holding it out for them.

They complete each other.

I had them try some different combinations to get a few head shots. 

They got to laughing. And got very cute together.

Their three boys were rolling their eyes, and smirking, and enjoying every minute of watching their parents loving on each other.

"Our wedding was many years ago. The celebration continues to this day." ~ Gene Perret

"It's easy to understand love at first sight, but how do we explain love after two people have been looking at each other for years?"  ~Author Unknown

Mark Twain once said, "No man or woman really knows what perfect love is until they have been married a quarter of a century."

As the Man and I approach that anniversary, I'm beginning to agree with Mr. Twain. 

And watching J and R together confirms it. 

The lingering touches. The small kisses for no special reason. The looks that pass between each other, speaking multitudes without saying anything at all.

The marriage has rooted and it feels richer, and deeper. And different from our early years. 

I wish more people made it this far.

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I cleaned up the shells that I brought back from the sunny south and found a display jar in the basement to use.

I decided to put it on a shelf in the bathroom, next to a jar of sand dollars that I have from a trip to the west coast.

I love my found treasure.

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My 300th post. Wow.