Monday, April 21, 2008

Happy birthday to my hubby

Wow, when did he get to be that old? No way... that means I'm getting older, too. Of course... when my daughter turned thirty I knew I was in trouble. :) I'm really kidding because I'm just glad to be here, after nearly going on to my reward a couple times.

I was nineteen and he was twenty-seven when we became engaged. Our wedding was just a week or so after my twentieth birthday. That is two "high school generations", when you stop to think about it.

Our age difference doesn't show up often. I've always looked older than I was and he looked younger. He used to look so much like Harrison Ford that he would get "looks" when he was walking through the airport (especially during the years after Witness came out) and actually had people stop and ask him if he was Harrison. Nope... just an engineer from the Midwest. He doesn't look like Harrison now... I tell him Ford has a better makeup person.

There are a few areas when we notice the age difference. Perhaps the biggest is our taste in music. I was from the Jesus People generation so I like contemporary Christian music. He thinks Southern Gospel is wild and crazy. I don't listen to K-LOVE in the car when he is with me. Instead I turn on one of the Moody Channels... he can handle that... or an "Oldies" channel. He's not fond of country music but he has watched Pure Country with me for about the twentieth time... sigh, George Straight... but I'm getting off track here (those who have been with me for awhile know Amarillo By Morning used to be my ring tone... before Tomlin's Amazing Grace).

He talks about old TV shows that I vaguely remember. By the time I was in high school The Beatles were breaking up and John Denver was (and still is) a favorite. Bobby Sherman was my dream boat. He was in school when The Beach Boys and other California sounds were the big deal. He still gets a little misty eyed when he hears Little GTO on the radio (his first car being a GTO and every car we've had since then doesn't measure up).

I had just gotten out of high school when the Vietnam War ended. He was there. He remembers what it was like to be told not to wear your uniform on your way home from the war. He loved watching China Beach but every time we watched The Duke in The Green Berets, he tells me it isn't realistic (ya' think?) ... "you don't find generals on the front line". He has kept in touch with his war buddies. They are old now, too.

That's actually how we met. He came back to the University after the war to finish his undergrad degree. He'd found out he was getting drafted after dropping a class... an art class of all things. So instead, he just went ahead and volunteered (it makes a huge difference in the Army if you were "regular Army" or a "draftee"). After finishing his undergrad degree, he decided to go on for a Master's. We met that summer when he had finished the B.S. and I finished high school.

There are a few good things about marrying an older man. For one, you start getting senior citizen discounts earlier. :)

It hasn't always been easy but there is one thing I know beyond a shadow of a doubt. We were put together by God. He has told me many times that he wouldn't be alive today if it weren't for me. We don't have to go to the far ends of the world to work for Him. Most often it is in our own home as we minister to our husband, wife, children, parents, grandparents, siblings... that's why God puts the lonely in families. They are our ministry priority, everything else is just extra.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, HUBBY!

16 comments:

Vee said...

What a nice tribute! But old is a state of mind. I prefer to think of us as "E" for "eternal." LOL! (My baby turns 30 this week...ackkkk! I don't know how he can be 30 on Thursday when I just turned 30 myself and not that long ago.)

Very interesting to read the differences that you've encountered as a result of the eight-year age difference. I guess that I wouldn't have thought, prior to reading your post, that eight years would be enough to make a difference.

Happy Birthday to your dh!

Cheri said...

We are eight years apart too. Most of the time it doesn't show, but every once in a while he will refer to some 'event' from his high school days, expecting me to remember it.

"Oh, when I was in fourth grade...?"I'll ask.

Pass along birthday greetings to your hubby, please. And my dh 'used' to look like, not Harrison Ford, but Richard Harris. Camelot and all...

Karen Deborah said...

My hubby is 18 years older than me. Can I ever relate! when he turned 64 I sang him the Beatles tune, he'd never heard it before! What a waste. Actually we don't have much in common besides the Lord but THAT is enough. hummm and he is a very good kisser,...sweetlips that's him.
ain't it great to be in love?

Anonymous said...

Happyy birthday to your hubby from me! It is also my birthday today. :)
You and I are of the same generation..with similar tastes!
I wonder sometimes how it all went by so quickly. sigh.

Anonymous said...

Happy birthday to your husband! What a lovely story about your meeting and life together.

MotherHen said...

Happy Birthday to your Hubby!!
What a wonderful story - thank you for sharing it with us.

Sheri said...

Happy B-day to your dh. Mine is eight years older than me. I was seventeen he was twenty five when we were married. Our sons like to tease him by saying now day he would go to jail for dating me. LOL

DebD said...

Happy Birthday to your dh. My hubby and I are also 8 yrs apart (and he's an engineer too).

Thanks for this entry - its been a hard day today. I needed something delightful to think about.

Anita said...

Thanks for letting us share your husband's birthday! I was smiling as I read and my husband asked what I was reading. I said, "Oh, just Coffeeteabooksandme. She's my best friend!"

Thickethouse.wordpress said...

Happy Birthday to your husband from Ohio! I am so happy for you and you good times and good memories of life together.

Misc. Muse said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Maggie Ann said...

'Put together by God' I like that! And a Harrison Ford look-a-like in the bargain. And those senior citizen discounts are nothing to sneeze at either....smile.

Mrs. A. said...

Happy Birthday to your dear husband. Blessed man he is to have his wife honor him with such a special post.

Signed,

Also married to a cradle robber

(I'm 44, he's 54 and we've been married 21-derful years)

~~Deby said...

Happy Birthday to your husband...we too have been married forever...almost 37 years...right out of high school....same era as YOU....
I praise the Lord for marriages that weather the storms and go to GOD for wisdom and the couple that prays together can usually stay together, IMHO.
Deby

Deborah said...

hehehe...I loved this post! My daughter turned 30 this year, and it made me feel very old....even worse though...I'm 2 months older than my husband...so come May 1st, he will be married to an older woman!
I can still see the Harrison Ford resemblance, by the way!

Anonymous said...

Happy belated birthday to your dear hubby!

Manuela