The title sound like the ending of a fairy tale , does it not? These are the promises made when we took the traditional wedding vows. When we got married we repeated those words , but do we truly commit to stay married till death do we part? Well , I liked fairy tales as a kid didn’t you? 

Let me confess that I have been married to the same “bushy-faced” man for thirty-one years and that counts for something. We have had many challenges in life , as we have grown up together and as we are now growing old together . It has not been all bad though. I asked my husband  , if he were contributing to an article with a title like this , what would he say? He laughed , rested his head in my lap and said ,”This is happily ever after.”

Thirty-one years are someone’s lifetime.We have survived the years of want , many different challenges , raising our son and burying his parents . We have survived the years of not having a home ,  having been put out of a rental apartment. We have survived me having triple strokes and a heart attack . We have survived all of that , but God has been good to us . So here we are joyfully celebrating this “happily ever after”.

Jean Ferris in her book titled  “Twice upon a Marigold” agrees with me : “And they lived happily (aside from a few normal disagreements, misunderstandings, pouts, silent treatments, and unexpected calamities) ever after.”
― Jean Ferris, Twice Upon a Marigold

So let me encourage young couples , who do not believe they can bear a few rough spots in their marriages , do not give up. Young men love your wives. Young women respect your husbands. Care for each other , no matter how difficult it might seem . God  created this wonderful institution called marriage and he intended for it to be forever. Live your vows and enjoy your relationships , happily ever after.

Written by Karen Morgan

February 27, 2017