An Occasion Well Worth Celebrating!

Fifty years ago today, Sunday, May 18, 1975, at 3 p.m., I proudly stood in a small neighborhood church in Portsmouth, Virginia, surrounded by my family and friends—those who I loved most—and married a lovely, smart, talented southern girl whose beauty was not only apparent to all of us in attendance, but she also possessed a beautiful soul.  She still does.  Even more beautiful.  I was 23 and she was 22.  

I’m not sure how prevalent 50 years of marriage is today, but I am proud that my bride and I still have the deep seated love we found when we decided to spend the rest of our lives together.  I almost never write anything personal on this blog, but on this occasion, I will make an exception.

My apologies for the hideous photos of me.  Not her, just me.  Lol.  She was and remains
beautiful.

Life and marriage are not easy.  They shouldn’t be.  But both are worth working hard for to be successful and to leave a lasting legacy.  There have been the best of times, like us bringing two outstanding young lives into this world, a boy and a girl (both of whom have grown up to be outstanding adults, parents, patriots and who live value-based lives) and the worst of times, like wondering how we were going to pay our bills when we first started out. Together, we made about $12,000 US a year.  She, a new real estate agent and me, a young (accidental) police officer.

As we both discovered over the years, love changes.  From the giddy, infatuation of a new relationship to deep lasting love that displays as commitment, tenacity and can endure whatever may try to destroy it.  Ours has only strengthened with time.  We are both proud of that.

Through all of this, the one constant, besides each other, has been our faith.  First and foremost, our faith in God and second, our faith in each other.  A faith that has been unwavering in every sense of the word.  Through laughter, joy, good times, heartache, trials and tribulations, our faith in God and each other has been strong and remains stronger than ever today.

To my bride of 50 years, thank you.  Thank you for your love, support, belief in me, for giving us two wonderful children and a life that is better than either of us imagined.  I couldn’t have done what I have done nor be as successful as I have been without you.  It is as simple as that.  You have been my rock.  You have been my confidant, my partner in every sense of the word.  You have been and continue to be my best friend.

I have been blessed in so many ways, mostly undeserved, and I am grateful and thankful each and every day.  Most of all, I am thankful to God for leading me to Kathryn for if it wasn’t for her, I have no idea where I would be today, how I would have spent my life and certainly would have been worse off.  

We are both much older, much wiser and much more experienced in every aspect of life now.  Although in our early 70s, our zest for life, our two children, Christopher and Sara, as well as our three gorgeous granddaughters, remains at the forefront of our remaining years.  

Words alone cannot describe how I feel but I’ve tried to express just a small part of my feelings toward my lovely wife and how she enhanced my life in every way.

This may sound strange but I’ve said it many times to many people.  I hope I die before she does as I don’t ever want to live without her.

It has been an amazing journey.

Happy Anniversary Kathryn.  Fifty years and going strong!  I look forward to many more years together.  I love you! ❤️ 

Join me over at my website, https://www.dennismook.com.  

Thanks for looking. Enjoy!  

Dennis A. Mook  

All content on this blog is © 2013-2025 Dennis A. Mook. All Rights Reserved. Feel free to point to this blog from your website with full attribution. Permission may be granted for commercial use. Please contact Mr. Mook to discuss permission to reproduce the blog posts and/or images.