DeRay's 80th Birthday Celebration - Part V

D-DAY

To summarize. . . . .

Amy's photos - Some the same.  Some different. 

The Road Less Traveled
           By: Robert Frost                 

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden back.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

I feel we’ve always taken the road less traveled;

Always been a little out of step.

Haven’t always followed traditional roles.

Not necessarily intentionally.

Fate has helped.

Innate personal characteristics

Contributed;

Inbred work ethics impacted;

Personalities influenced.

* We started off our married life with me earning all the money from my fine job with United States Steel.  Oh sure, your paltry GI helped.  $139/month, I think it was.  There you were, had all your meals fixed, your laundry done, your 9x12 apartment cleaned, leaving you free to study day and night.  No wonder you ended up in the top 10% of your engineering class.  Phi Tau Sigma.   None of our kids had such an easy time getting through school (but they excelled so I guess my contribution wasn’t as great as I supposed.)

* We worked together to fix up our first home.  Wasn’t it charming?  “But are you happy?”

* Alas, we had no children.  This has been the biggest bridge separating us from society.

* When finally they came, you changed diapers, fed and tended them unlike many husbands of that era.  You were a trend setter.  Best of all, you were my natural childbirth coach.

* You built our house on the hollow.  Our dream home.  Non-traditional.  You always manage to forget that I swept and painted but I didn’t design, lay brick, do the plumbing, electricity, roof or shingle.  Traditional.

*You do the grocery shopping; I mow the lawn.  You do all the shopping.  You fix everything.  You figure things out.  You resolve, ponder.  You are brimming with tenacity and bright ideas.

* You did make the bread after you starting buying breadmakers and could afford the ingredients that were unessential when I made the bread.  And, no, you didn’t teach me to make bread.  Mama did.  (Gotja when you can’t challenge.)

* You are a good gardener and I’ve loved the vegetables through the years.  Vegetable gardens are essential.  You’ve helped me can in our later years but when the kids were growing up, you had too many jobs.  Count them.  Real Estate.  Apartments.  Taxes.  On and on and on.

* Vacation planning is your strong point.  Oh, my, DeRay, you’ve taken me to places I’ve never dreamed I would see.  I’m always reluctant; and end up loving them.

* We cancel out each other's vote.  I changed.  Things change. 

Sixty years of shared memories.  Two before we were married; 58 after.

We’re on parallel tracks going down the road less traveled.

And that has made all the difference.

I think we compliment each other.

A perfect team.

Each has strong points (and weaknesses).

Neither has lost his/her own identity or been smothered or hushed.

We work together separately.  I clean the toilets, you go to Market Square.

I’m not sorry we’ve taken the road less traveled, are you?

It’s been a great journey on the path less trod.

I love you. Jeanette

 

Thank You, Amy!