It's Project Everlasting

Our neighbor Bambee promised to show me the greeting card she made for her parents’ golden wedding anniversary yet our busy schedule during the holidays did not allow us to see each other. I wanted to use her handmade card as a visual aid for the class on the Sacrament of Matrimony I will be giving to a club of young professional women in our vicinity. Four days before the talk, Bambee sent me not her handcrafted card but a package with a note:  Mel, lending you this book which may be a good reference for the talk you are preparing. Nice Stories! It’s Project everlasting.

Two bachelors and best friends Mathew Boggs and Jason Miller wrote Project everlasting.

 Project everlasting—written by best friends Mathew Boggs and Jason Miller—is a showcase of the greatest marriages in the United States distilled in candid stories to communicate what it takes to make love lasts to more than 40 years.  It documented the highlights of their 200 interviews with couples having more than 40, 50, or 60 years of marriage.  They call these couples Marriage Masters not because they have perfect marriages but because they have superbly mastered themselves —their egos—and made their partnerships work for them and their families.

 Everlasting or endless love—is it realistic or is it just a song? I think that a happy marriage is not limited to nice, happy and funny experiences together nor could it be just focused on establishing wealth.  It is the steadfastness to ride the tide of conflicts and difficulties like weaknesses in character or personality, disappointments, frustrations, poverty, sicknesses, and even death.  It’s taking all the rough with the smooth and with flair of love.

 As the New Year started, I got to know several couples who celebrated their golden years of being together in marriage. Aside from Bambee’s parents, Delsy my co-teacher before at the BCPD School in Cebu City celebrated with spouse Mel their 50^th wedding anniversary last December 27.  Then last January 2, our friend Anabelle renewed her wedding vows with husband Walter in celebration of their golden wedding anniversary.  The same is true for the parents of my boss Dr. Glenda who celebrated their 50 years of marriage last January 3.

Fortune Plant keepsake for the 50th Wedding Anniversary Celebration of Spouses Annabelle & Walter Brown.  Like this Fortune Plant, marriage is a gift and a treasure that must be defended, protected and nourished.  With God's blessings, marriage grows hence it truly takes three to marry--husband, wife and God.

Bishop Fulton Sheen said that it takes three to get married—the man, the woman, and God.  Fidelity ensues in a marriage which has been patiently worked out with one’s spouse and with God’s blessings. I know of many tried and difficult marriages that had worked and even failed marriages that became beacons of hope because God was in the relationship.  Faith gave the strength against the odds and solution to whatever may be hopeless.

          Last December 29 was the 46^th anniversary of Mama and Daddy’s wedding.  Daddy passed away six years ago so Mama visited his remains in the cemetery of our town in Bauan.  I can attest that their love triumphed even though their marriage was difficult.  The bond between them has been seriously undermined by many challenges but that bond too has always been made stronger by their faith, their children, and their commitment—loving each other to the end.  Their marriage too is Project everlasting.