Celebrating 50 Years

This weekend my grandparents, Lynn and Audrey Slaven, were celebrating their 50^th wedding anniversary. Several weeks ago, my grandmother asked me to say a few words at their reception on behalf of all of the grandchildren, because I was the oldest. At first, I did not know what to say, not because I did not know what to say about my grandparents, because they have been a great support system for my entire life, but because I have only been alive for two-fifths of their marriage.

Because of that I was not sure how I was going to be able to correctly summarize their past 50 years together. To me 50 years seems like forever; a time period that almost seems unattainable to be married considering the obstacles in today’s society.

So as I began to write my speech I tried to think about all of the things they have accomplished in the past five decades. As I began, totaling up all of the occasions and events that they had been a part of I was highly impressed with all that they had successfully undertaken together as a team. Being valuable members of the community, a huge asset to our church family, a strong think that has continued time and time again to hold our family together, even when the times got hard, and loving grandparents to top it all has shown me what love can do. It amazes me to think that after all of that, their relationship is still going strong.

I think about the impact they have made on countless lives because of their strong relationship and that made me start to ponder what kind of impact I could make in the next 50 years.

Will it be a positive impact, or a negative one? Will I affect anyone or no one at all? Will somebody look at my life 50 years from now and see that same amount of accomplishments I see in my grandparents? Will they see that I did not just live and survive life, but that I lived well and made the most of every opportunity? 

My siblings and I with our grandparents, Audrey and Lynn.

As these thoughts crossed my mind, I realized that you cannot get anywhere in life without relying on other people at some point and how important it is to see value in other people, especially when people see value in you. So my plan for the future, by 2060, is to live a life that my grandparents have lived: a life full of laughter, compassion, and love for others.