{"id":2444,"date":"2012-01-12T05:45:52","date_gmt":"2012-01-12T10:45:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/simplelife\/?p=2444"},"modified":"2012-01-23T11:53:58","modified_gmt":"2012-01-23T16:53:58","slug":"the-partys-over","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/simplelife\/2012\/01\/the-partys-over.html","title":{"rendered":"The party’s over"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>The week before Christmas and the next two weeks have always been a bit of whirlwind for our family. \u00a0We celebrate Christmas and New Year’s Day heartily. \u00a0Additionally, there are three birthdays and three wedding anniversaries crammed into those short weeks.<\/p>\n

January 7 would have marked my husband’s and my 50th wedding anniversary. \u00a0But he tricked the family and died on May 10, 2011, avoiding a large party. \u00a0The children and I were trying to sort through how to make an 50th anniversary party work with my husband very sick, limited mobility and basically no desire for a big party. \u00a0He solved the issue.<\/p>\n

It seems selfish to feel a bit of disappointment that we didn’t make our 50th wedding anniversary because it is certainly true that I’m very happy that my husband is no longer suffering. \u00a0But for me our anniversary date was accented with the first full day of deep regrets since he died.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Ours wasn’t a perfect marriage. \u00a0We’ve been told by several newlywed couples that Frank and I could learn a great deal about marriage by watching how they interact. \u00a0There were many days of self-made trauma and conflict. \u00a0While he did things that annoyed me and bruised my spirit, I never doubted his love. \u00a0Yet, because of his own childhood and deep insecurities, he was never able to fully accept mine.<\/p>\n

Now, I know that he is healed and not hurting. \u00a0That makes me happy. \u00a0Of course, the party is over but a new page is beginning for both of us. \u00a0And it is good.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The week before Christmas and the next two weeks have always been a bit of whirlwind for our family. \u00a0We celebrate Christmas and New Year’s Day heartily. \u00a0Additionally, there are three birthdays and three wedding anniversaries crammed into those short weeks. January 7 would have marked my husband’s and my 50th wedding anniversary. \u00a0But he…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":387,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,40,186,49,16,8,4,41,268],"tags":[354,21,688,14,699,715,701,353,6,700],"class_list":["post-2444","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-christianity","category-faith","category-hope","category-inspiration","category-intellectual-disability","category-mentally-challenged-community","category-simple-truths","category-spirituality","category-survival","tag-50th-anniversary","tag-christian","tag-christianity","tag-death-and-dying","tag-faith","tag-hope","tag-inspiration","tag-marriage","tag-simple-scriptural-truths","tag-spirituality"],"yoast_head":"\nThe party's over - A Simple Life, a Childlike Faith<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/simplelife\/2012\/01\/the-partys-over.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The party's over - A Simple Life, a Childlike Faith\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The week before Christmas and the next two weeks have always been a bit of whirlwind for our family. \u00a0We celebrate Christmas and New Year’s Day heartily. \u00a0Additionally, there are three birthdays and three wedding anniversaries crammed into those short weeks. 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Howard\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The party's over - A Simple Life, a Childlike Faith","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/simplelife\/2012\/01\/the-partys-over.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The party's over - A Simple Life, a Childlike Faith","og_description":"The week before Christmas and the next two weeks have always been a bit of whirlwind for our family. \u00a0We celebrate Christmas and New Year’s Day heartily. \u00a0Additionally, there are three birthdays and three wedding anniversaries crammed into those short weeks. 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