52 Weeks of Joy: Week 52

If we're going to celebrate joy this year, we're going out with a bang. Because this week we celebrated 70 years of marriage. A very big deal! And makes us very joyful.

We started with a blessing at Mass in the morning and then lunch at the country club in the afternoon.

Tim's grandparents, Mema and Pepa, were married during World War II in the middle of the night in Indianapolis while Pepa was on leave. Very romantic. And somewhat forbidden because Mema was Lutheran (who converted years later) and Pepa was Catholic. And she wasn't allowed to marry that "papist". But love prevailed. And it continued to prevail for the next 70 years...

...through the raising of three children...

...and seven grand children and their spouses (just one grandchild missing from this picture)...

...and eight (soon to be nine) great-grandchildren (three great-grandkids couldn't be with us).

 And all together, we couldn't be happier to celebrate this very beloved couple.

Of course, the day wouldn't be complete without antics from our girls. Like when Vivian tried to sneak into the bar with Pepa's walker. Was she thinking, If I've got this walker they're going to think I'm old enough for a drink?

Oh and Miriam pulled the fire alarm.

Which the fire department had to respond to and turn off. Despite these Crazies, Tim and Sarah look forward to their own 70th anniversary. And thank Mema and Pepa for their beautiful witness to the vocation of marriage.