40

“He set my feet upon a rock
And made my footsteps firm” – U2

We just returned from Chicago and the celebration of my parents 40th anniversary. Can you imagine; forty years living with the same person? I’ve been partnered for 15 years and sometimes that seems like forever.

Forty is a huge number. Wikipedia gave a list of things associated with forty:

    *Life begins at forty
    *The expression "Forty winks"
    *The international phone code for Romania
    *It’s half the name of the lubricant WD-40
    *The 40 ounce size used for liquor, typically fairly cheap malt beer
    *Ali Bab had 40 thieves the number of hours in a regular work week
    *The classic Russian vodka is alcohol content 40 percent by volume
    *Forty days and forty nights describes Noah's time on the ark

I give my parents credit; they’ve lived through good times and lived through tough times. There have been deaths and births, sicknesses and celebrations, job losses and promotions (and I’m not just including my Olive Garden years there).

The thought of going through life together with the same persona for 40 years is both scary and exhilarating. It’s hard to imagine that you get a chance to decide your best friend and stick by them. Sure, you don’t always get it right. But many times, it just works. They made their decision before they owned a piece of property; before they knew what they wanted to do with their lives. They just sort of winged it and did the best they could.

And 40 years later, they can turn around and smile.

So this weekend we celebrated them. 40 years ago today, two nervous kids got up and said in front of 128 people that they wanted to spend their lives together, for better or worse.

And if you really want to continue the celebration, 40 years this evening we can commemorate my conception.