Short story about 100 years of marriage.

This story takes place at a lake. Well, kind of. The story starts in Pennsylvania, then travels around a whole lot, and then, 50 years later finds itself at a lake. But this is a short story, at a lake. The characters are a family of 16.....

 

Made up of smaller families like this one....

That grew out of a family of 5....

That all came from two people (back in Pennsylvania) who fell in love and got married (or, got married and fell in love- depending on who you ask) 50 years ago.

 

The characters had great fun.

 

The End

Of the short story!

Fortunately, it is also a beginning of year 51 of marriage for my incredible parents and year number 220 for my family's marriages.....or 440...?

 

 

I'm not being facetious about the "got married and fell in love" bit. That is wisdom. And, when you have parents who have been married, and chuffed about it for 50 years, sit back and bask in the wisdom! After nearly 20 years of marriage with my own Huz, I see this point. It isn't about the love in the beginning of a marriage, it is the love you build as it goes. And, I realize, Huz and I have more than most in the way of opportunity for wisdom from married parents. As regular readers of this blog may recall, Huz' parents celebrated their first 50 years of marriage last year. And the examples and the wisdom seem to be working....
I'm perhaps not wholly accurate, but these two marriages begat 7 children, all married to their original spouses, creating 14 grandchildren and 212 years of marriage. (I'm not up to the math to calculate the back log of marriage years, as my grandparents and great grandparents also celebrated more than 50 years together... also, if you use my Mother's math, each one of we "marrieds" has been married, individually, so the years really number 424 years of marriage.
See?
So, Thank You. And, Congratulations. To my parents, married these past 50 years (or, 100 years of marriage.) Thank you for the wisdom and the love, and a most excellent excuse to enjoy a lakeside vacation.