50 years and counting

It's 50 years today since my parents got married. I have mixed feelings.

I am impressed with their commitment and tenacity to staying together in a world where this so rarely happens, despite all their ups and downs. I wish that their life together had been easier, with more laughter and peace, fewer misunderstandings and fewer tears, and so I wish this for however many more years they have together. Laughter, peace, understanding and comfort I wish you both.

I hope that I'm able to make it that long with my love. I'm sad because my Mama's sister was married on the same day as her, not wishing her younger sister to marry before her, but she's no longer here to celebrate her long marriage, having left us for another world over a month ago. I'm amused as I remember my mother telling me that the priest almost married the wrong couples on that day 50 years ago. I'm sad because they married on the anniversary of their own parents wedding and they're also no longer here. I'm wistful as I remember the enormous feasts we used to have as children with my parents, my aunt and her husband, and my grandparents, plus a multitude of siblings and cousins. I remember the tables set outside in our garden in Veli Lošinj, laden with fish, meat, bread, bean salad, potato salad, battered aubergine, tomatoes - all the vegetables locally produced, the meat locally bred and the fish freshly caught. I remember the day being full of the stress of preparation, the sweating in the hot poorly aired kitchen, and finally, the pleasure of eating our fill, lots of laughter and joking, the range of strong and flavoured aperitifs offered by my uncle with the beard, followed by cakes from the harbour, krem pite always being my favourite - layers of pastry lined with thick yellow creamy custard. We would always end the night with the guitars coming out and my Dad handing out his prepared duplicate sheets of words, so we could all sit around and have a sing-song, sometimes using harmonies.

I look back and I remember all the good times as well as the bad and so I smile. Nothing is perfect, but still I wish for a future with more of the good times than the bad for us all.