Everyone has a favorite in their family. A favorite cousin, brother, parent, aunt or uncle. Today, mama and I saw my favorite great aunt and uncle at their surprise 50th wedding anniversary party.
(I can get away with saying that they're my favorites because my family does not read my blog.)
Uncle Pete (whose name is not really Pete or Peter- no one remembers when or why he picked that name up) and Aunt Ellen are the one of the most adorable couples, and a true testament of a successful marriage. Not only have they been together since they were teenagers, they've been members of the same church for just about as long as they've been married, they suffered through the loss of a teenage son, and they housed my meme and her six young children when she left her husband and had nowhere else to go. Mama says it was like living with the 1970's George Jones and Tammy Wynette (minus the drinking and D-I-V-O-R-C-E).
What sticks out in my mind about Uncle Pete and Aunt Ellen is their loyalty to family. When my papa had his accident that caused him to be a quadriplegic, they stayed with us at the hospital. In fact, they drove their RV to stay with us and someone broke in the thing and stole $500 out of it. They took Mama and I to Lizard Thicket(s?), the only time I remember ever eating there, and Aunt Ellen was so warm and comforting to me. She was also a lot of fun to just talk to. Uncle Pete has a small farm and a horse with my name on it. A couple years ago he had this horse that was trained and "housebroken" that he was saving for me. I couldn't take it but I loved that he remembered how much I want a horse.
My favorite part of the afternoon, other than the unexpected soul food, was hearing how the lovebirds first met and decided to get married. Aunt Ellen's cousin wanted to "sneak away" and get married to Uncle Pete's best friend. So, unbeknownst to Aunt Ellen, they rode to Georgia with their friends so they could get married. Aunt Ellen and Uncle Pete stayed in the backseat and got to know each other. Before they left, Uncle Pete asked her if she wanted to get married. She said, "I don't care, whatever you wanna do." They weren't able to tie the knot that night and Aunt Ellen got her behind tore up when she got home around 2 am. But her mom told them they could get married so they did, she was 15 and he was 18.
I don't know anything about marriage or how in the world people happily stay together as long as they do. But I'm glad that they do.
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