Tag Tuesday - Number 7; And a Story: THIRTY YEARS

The theme for this week is the number 7:

Industrial #7

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I had a lot of fun making this tag! If you want to know what I used, or to join in on the challenge, please go to Blog Challenge Garden.

THIRTY YEARS

22nd in the Tuesday Story series

Yesterday, my husband John and I celebrated our 30th wedding anniversary! I remember how hot is was the day we were married and how handsome John looked. I remember the little brick house we first lived in and the cherry red carpeting which showed any and all lint and debris - it never looked clean, even right after vacuuming. That house had an oil furnace with one large vent in the hallway, which was supposed to heat the whole house. Thankfully, Charleston rarely had really cold days, because the heater did not do well beyond ten feet of that vent. I remember that the last winter we were living in the house, the heater had to be repaired, and the fan was set too high so that when it ran, we had a layer of soot over everything, including the dishes in the cupboard! The old refrigerator in the kitchen kept that room warm in the winter and unbearable in the summer, because it poured out warm air from the bottom from running the motor. We had two window unit air conditioners on either end of the house, and they did not do very well in Charleston's hot and humid climate. But as a young married couple, we took it all in stride.

20 June, 1981

We had planned on going to Scotland, or Ireland, or elsewhere to celebrate this 30 year milestone in our marriage, but because of my illness, we realized last year that we would not be doing anything like that. We then hoped that perhaps I would be able to travel somewhere closer to home, but as June approached, we knew that was not going to happen either. Instead, we drove up to Saluda, North Carolina for lunch, which is about a 30 minute drive from where we live in South Carolina. It is a lovely drive, through the Greenville County watershed and the mountains. There is a sweet restaurant in Saluda where we've eaten before, called The Purple Onion, and we celebrated our anniversary there by dining outside. The weather was excellent, the food was delicious and we were content. We talked about our lives, the blessings the Lord had given us and that we were just happy to be together.

On our front porch.

The little restaurant in Saluda, NC.

The view from our table.

Another special treat was the gift our daughter gave us. She was at our house when we left, and had brought over an anniversary gift. It was a glass jar with 30 folded slips of paper inside, each with a special memory written on it in different colors of ink. We read them on the way to Saluda and they were all so special and heartwarming! We will keep the jar by our bed for a while and read one or two to each other before we go to sleep. 

It was a wonderful day! Even though I may pay for the travel with exhaustion over the next few days, I am so very grateful that I had the stamina to do what we did today.

 Thankful for all of our blessings! 

Rebecca