Celebrate occasions with photographs

This past weekend was a big event, and a memorable one, for certain.
The parents of my good friend Cindy celebrated 50 years of marriage, and there was a party big enough to mark it.
As more and more people continued to come as the day went on, the cameras kept on flashing, the dance music kept on playing, and the laughter and memories continued flowing.
It was an event worthy of two people who know how to have fun.
Lifetime love. There is no doubt that love, over a long lifetime, takes many forms. And every single form is important if a marriage is going to reach that golden day worth commemorating.
Love really is patient, kind, and all of the other wonderful, lyrical things the Good Book tells us.
But love also finds a way to hold back when the urge to clobber your life partner comes over you, and love learns to look the other way and bite the old tongue in order to keep the peace.
The recipe for a long marriage is also filled with humble pie, a dash of sugar to ward off bitterness, and a good box of chocolate every now and then doesn’t hurt, either.
Real proof. Jim and Eldora Starlin, on reaching the 50 year landmark, proved that laughter is the glue that holds a relationship together. A person need not be in the same room with them for five minutes to figure that out.
And the huge number of people of all ages who came to celebrate with them tells another story of a different type of love and joy, the joy of true friends who are happy to be a part of their celebration.
Photo albums. One of my favorite things to do is to look back over a lifetime of old photographs, some black and white and a bit weathered on the edges.
Cindy and I worked at putting photo boards together for the party, while her parents handed us some of their favorites, and the memories evoked by looking through stacks of family photos was a whole lot of fun.
So what did I do at the party? Take more photographs, of course.
There will be baskets of pictures to go through before the decorations are all put away, before all the out-of-state relatives go home, and all the great food is gone.
Much of life is hard work and challenging choices to be made, week after week, month after month.
So when those special days come along, allow yourself the time to celebrate, to laugh, to dance, to snap a few photographs.