The pretty waitress with the green eyes and dark curly hair caught his eye, but he was too shy to ask her out. Nevertheless, he told all of the other highway patrolmen that she was off limits.
The pretty waitress wondered why none of the handsome highway patrolman would ask her out! Finally, someone told her about the shy one and his warnings to the others, so, tired of waiting on him to get up his nerve, she invited him to a picnic. One thing lead to another, and sixty years ago yesterday they were married.
I'm grateful that my dad listened to his heart when he saw my mother, even if he was too shy to ask her out. I'm grateful that my mother wasn't afraid to speak up, even at that young age. I'm grateful that both of them took a chance on the other one, and except for a brief blip, truly clung together through everything life tossed their way for the past 60 years. And life has tossed them a lot - more than most marriages could have handled, that's for sure. But they survived them all. They taught us about love, loyalty, commitment, respect, trust, forgiveness, tolerance...but probably the most important thing they taught us was to laugh.
Happy 60th anniversary, Mama and Daddy, and thank you. I'm glad I got to help you celebrate your day.
Then...Now...and Shake Russell singing "Two Silver Hearts" which I swear he must have written for them...