Tomorrow would have been our parents’ seventy-second wedding anniversary. They are now both in heaven and although they didn’t get to enjoy that many anniversaries here on earth, they did celebrate 58 of them together.
As I shared a while back, my siblings and I came across one of mom’s scrapbooks when we were cleaning out their home following her death. As we flipped through it, countless memories sprang from the pages covering everything from family vacations to piano recitals to special church services.
It was a blessing not only to remember these events but to hear our mother’s first person reflections on them. It was a precious gift from her following her passing.
She had also pressed cherished items that she had saved between the pages. Among them we found two different flowers that were like bookends of their marriage and reminded us of the love they shared together.
The first flowers we discovered were some blossoms of a faded trailing arbutus. We all remembered the story of this being the first flower that Dad gave Mom as they began courting. Although not labeled, we knew instantly that there before us was that very stem representing not only the spring of 1950, but also the budding love between them.
The second flower we found was pressed between much later pages of the book. They were actually the loose petals of a rose blossom, although a few were still attached. As we looked at the date of the surrounding pages, we discovered that it corresponded with the date of their fiftieth wedding anniversary in the year 2000.
These two tangible pressed memories stood out to us as symbols of the love and relationship that we were privileged to witness daily. They cherished each other and kept their love alive over many years of joys and challenges.
Even though they all weren’t saved and pressed, there were a lot of other flowers in between the two we found. There were flowers at births and deaths. Flowers for Easter and birthdays. And sometimes flowers for no reason at all. Dad knew that Mom loved flowers and his desire was to please her.
No life is free of problems nor were theirs, but they persevered through good times and bad determined to keep the promises they had made to each other a half-century earlier before God and those witnesses. Over the years they cared for aging parents, dealt with cancer and other diseases, and the deaths of loved ones and friends. They built a business together and became vital members of their church teaching Sunday School and serving in other capacities.
Although they faced challenges, disagreements, and downturns, the faith, hope, and love they found in Jesus enabled them to continue to love each other in spite of life’s difficulties. Their individual commitments to Him strengthened their commitments to each other.
Mom and Dad weren’t perfect nor was their marriage but we were privileged to witness the deep love they showed each other that provided stability and security in our lives. Dad sought to obey Ephesians 5:25 by loving his wife as Christ loved the church and Mom endeavored to love him as the church is to love Jesus.
Although not a magic formula, God’s Word provides holy guidance for all married couples. It outlines His design for harmony in the home as well as safeguards to protect it. In a day when divorce is widespread and co-habitation is at an all-time high, it’s refreshing to see couples who continue to demonstrate daily what it means to honor God by loving their spouses.
Although October 29 might not mean much to anyone else, to us Bowers’ kids, it’s a reminder of a precious couple and the love they shared. I pray that all married readers will seek to live out and model the love symbolized by those two pressed flowers.
Blessings, George