13 Feb 2026
The older I get, the more I have to forget, and believe me, I don't forget to forget. I can't keep up with dates, holidays, or even my birthday. I believe a day is a day, and that should be the end of it.
As I was drinking my morning coffee, The Gracious Mistress of the Parsonage entered and said, "Do you know what day Saturday is?"
I didn't know what kind of question this was because she always throws questions at me that confuse me, just to see if I can get confused. Looking at her, I said very seriously, "I believe that it will be Saturday." Then I looked at her and smiled.
"Oh, you silly boy. This Saturday is February 14. You do know what day that is."
I had to admit to her that I had no idea what she was talking about. I thought about it and then said to her, "Is it one of our granddaughter's birthday?" We always like to celebrate these birthdays, and I had no idea which of our granddaughters had a birthday this week.
"You sure don't keep up with the times, do you?" She said rather snickerly. Looking at me with one of her serious looks, she said, "This Saturday is February 14 and that is Valentine's Day. Remember what Valentine's Day is?"
I had to think for a moment, and then it came to me, another holiday that I can’t keep up with.
"Don't you remember we became engaged on Valentine's Day 55 years ago?"
Looking at her, I said, "No way it's that long!"
I had to give this a lot of thought, and I began to remember that 55 years ago, on Valentine's Day, we became engaged. Then six months later, we got married. My, oh my, how time flies when you're getting old.
That sure was a long time ago, and it has gone by rather quickly. I never thought I would live to be this old. But here I am, celebrating 55 years of being engaged.
I remember meeting The Gracious Mistress of the Parsonage six months before our engagement. And then six months later, we were married.
We were at Bible school together, where we met. One Sunday, a bunch of us went to a church to sing. We did that often during our school time. I lip-synched while the others actually sang.
On our way home, The Gracious Mistress of the Parsonage and I were sitting towards the back of the van. We were talking about this and that and everything. Then she asked me a question, which I assume was rhetorical.
She said, "Wouldn't it be wonderful to be married?"
Not knowing that it was not rhetorical, I smiled and said, "Yes, it would be wonderful to be married someday."
That was the end of that conversation. She was smiling all the way back to the dorms.
The next day, as I was walking down the school hallway, everybody looked at me, smiled, and said, "Congratulations." I smiled back and thanked them. I thought I had finally passed one of my tests, and they were congratulating me. But everybody I passed congratulated me.
Not knowing what was going on, I stopped one of them and said, "What are you congratulating me for?"
"Oh, you know. You're getting married."
I was getting what? I had no idea where that was coming from. But the rhetorical question was actually a real question. I was the last one at school to find out I was getting married.
At first, I thought it was some prank that people were playing on me. I went along with it, not wanting to look stupid.
I met with the former Gracious Mistress of the Parsonage and wanted to get things straightened out. I didn't want to take anything for granted; what I really wanted to know, was this the truth?
We went to a little restaurant down the street, and as we were sitting there, I looked at her and said, "Did you hear the rumor that you and I are getting married?" I then laughed quite hilariously.
She smiled and said very enthusiastically, "That's not a rumor it's true. You and I are going to get married."
Well, there wasn't anything more I could do about that.
55 years later, as I was thinking about Valentine's Day, I remembered that incident so many years ago. Looking back over the years, I couldn't help but think what a wonderful time that has been.
Now that I'm old, I can say that Valentine's Day 55 years ago was probably the best day of my life, and it was all because of The Gracious Mistress of the Parsonage.
I looked back at The Gracious Mistress of the Parsonage and said, "Valentine's Day is one of the best days of the year. Don't you agree?"
In pondering this I was reminded of what King Solomon said, “Live joyfully with the wife whom thou lovest all the days of the life of thy vanity, which he hath given thee under the sun, all the days of thy vanity: for that is thy portion in this life, and in thy labour which thou takest under the sun” (Ecclesiastes 9:9).
This August we will celebrate our 55th wedding anniversary and I intend to follow King Solomon’s advice to “Live joyfully with the wife.” Why change when it’s working just fine so far?
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