THANKFUL FOR: THE SPECIALNESS OF TRUE VOWS 50 YEARS LATER

Friday I went to join my Mom, Auntie Kiss, and Mrs. Cindy in Dallas because they were working and then Friday night, JanJan, Bia, my Dad, Mills, and Uncle Jeff flew in for the weekend. In case you couldn’t tell, we love being together, but this weekend it was for a certain occasion. My JanJan and Bia (Carl and Janis Brothers) celebrated 50 years of marriage on Friday and I am beyond thankful for that. And the fact that they chose to spend it in Dallas with all of us was truly special. 

Late Friday night after a lovely dinner at this delicious restaurant in Dallas with an amazing view I went to write my blog and I got all caught up in the number 50. I mean if you really think about it that is a long time. A lot can happen in one year let alone fifty. The fact that my precious Grandparents have been with each other that long makes me beyond happy. They have been through so much together and odds are they were able to get through the good and bad times because they had each other. At dinner they talked about their honeymoon and how young they were. Times were different and because they were so young they had to learn a lot of things as quickly as possible. My Bia told us that they were supposed to go to Hot Springs, AR, but he worried he didn’t have enough money for gas so they stopped somewhere in-between Little Rock and Hot Springs, which if you know that area you know especially back then that there was little to nothing. I cannot even imagine. They were younger than me when they got married. I am so thankful for the example that they have set because honestly in today‘s society things are done so differently. I am not going to say that I have never worried about the fact of being married to someone for a majority of my life because I haven’t. That thought has crossed my mind and it makes me worried about the future. I am not judging anyone on how they do things, but for me being married to someone my whole life is something that I want. And today you see that less and less. It is scary and it is even worse how it is handled. When I make my vows I want them to count and I want to be true to them. When I agree to them I am going to act on them. It is so easy to say one thing and do another, but for me those will be serious. I so admire that my grandparents are taking their vows seriously 50 years later. It makes me so so thankful. Thankful because they are the rock of this family. Without theme agreeing to those vows 50 years ago I would not have a family to be constantly blessed by. I know couples have problems and there are some that my seem impossible to fix. I do not judge anyone in that position, but I do admire my JanJan and Bia for loving, caring, helping, bugging, nagging, learning, and forgiving each other when times were tough. 50 years is a chunk of time. The fact that my JanJan and Bia hold true to their vows 50 years later will always make me thankful. I will never forget there love and heart for each other. I will tell my kids and this anniversary will be much more than a celebration. It will be a piece of our family’s history. 

JanJan and Bia, I cannot think of a pair better than you. Thank you for loving me so well for so many years. I constantly consider myself lucky to be your grandson. Congrats on many years together and congrats on setting an amazing example for me and others. I hope that one day I will look back and remember this celebration with my wife on our 50th. Because who wouldn’t want to be like JanJan and Bia. Love the two of you times 50!! 

 
We weren’t sure if they were actually going to end up making it to us in Dallas because in snowed a ton in Arkansas on Thursday night and Friday. Mills was even out of school on Friday (prayers for a snow day for me like ASAP). But we are SOOO thankful they did. What a very special time for them and for our family. Like I said, this is something that I will be forever thankful for! 

Yours Truly,
Southern and Thankful ​