I’m Thankful for Young Love

Thirty-two years ago today, I became Mrs. Mary Kay. We were 22 and the ink was barely dry on our college diplomas. We had one car, a 1972 Capri, an envelope full of wedding cash, and high hopes. On our wedding day in 1976, it was 86 degrees in St. Petersburg. We drove up to the Blue Ridge Parkway to stay at a romantic lodge. In the middle of the night, I had an asthma attack so severe that he had to drive me down an ice-slicked mountain to an emergency room in Virginia.
We had jobs in Savannah–he working as a surveyor, me as a reporter for the Savannah Morning News. Our weekly combined take-home pay was maybe $300, and we lived in a three-room apartment on the top floor of an old house on East 48th Street. Our deal was that we would live on my paycheck and bank his because the plan was for him to return to school–Georgia Tech–to get an engineering degree. The plan worked. He got his degree. I got another job–as a reporter at The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Along the way God blessed us with two beautiful children, Katie and Andy. The road hasn’t always been smooth, but it’s never boring, and mostly fun. So I’m thankful for this marriage. For my children and other family members, far and near, friends who’ve become extended family. I’m thankful for Diet Coke in the morning, the pecan pie we’ll have for dinner, the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade this morning and for the junk I’ll pursue tomorrow. I’m thankful we have not just jobs, but work that fulfills and sustains us. I’m thankful we had parents who took us to church and made us stand up straight and pledge the flag. I’m thankful for this flag of ours, and hopeful that we can all remember that no matter our political or philosophical beliefs, we all pledge to stand for liberty and justice. For all.