Forty Years

A lot has happened over the last 40 years: We have had eight different Presidents, one of which resigned, another a father/son duo, and of course, an African American.
The eight track, cassette tape, walkman, boom box, CD, MP3, Ipod, and sadly, all of these led to the demise of a good old record.
We have gone through protest music, hard rock, folk rock, singer/songwriter music, disco, punk rock, hair bands, pop music, Madonna, the Bee Gees, Prince, the rise and fall of Michael Jackson, boy bands, girl bands, rap, hip hop, screamo music, grunge, alternative, and all sorts of music.
The microwave, push button telephone, cordless telephone, cell phone, color television, remote control, cable television, Home Box Office, MTV, the computer, email, internet, and many other technologies to make our home lives easier and more enjoyable.
We have had hit shows like the Brady Bunch, Little House on the Prairie, MASH, The Cosby Show, Family Ties, Dallas, Dukes of Hazzard, The Incredible Hulk, The Golden Girls, Friends, ER, Solid Gold, The Carol Burnett Show, Late night with Johnny Carson, Jay Leno, and now Conan O'Brien.
We have lost great people like: many past Presidents, Natalie Wood, Princess Grace, Princess Diana, Elvis Pressley, the Rat Pack, John Lennon, Marvin Gaye, Indira Ghandi, Yitzhak Rabin, Heath Ledger, and so forth.
Newsworthy events include: the invasion of Cambodia and subsequent Kent State shootings killing four college kids, ending of the war in Vietnam, AIDS epidemic, Oklahoma City Bombing, OJ Simpson murder saga, Manson Family murder saga, Roe v. Wade, Iran hostage crisis, Challenger explosion, Patty Heart and the SLA, Sandra Day O'Connor being appointed Supreme Court Justice, the disolution of Communism, wars in Bosnia, Kosovo, Somalia, Sudan, starvation in Africa, and many more.
We have endured trends such as hotpants, bell bottoms, skin tight high wasted jeans, leisure suits, pinned jeans, huge shoulder pads, baggy clothes, low wasted jeans, perms, bitch bangs, flat ironed hair, pre flat ironed hair, sun in, side burns, lamb chops, mullets, and much more.
Through this last forty years, amongst all the above mentioned things, my parents have been married. They have witnessed each event I wrote about and their own 'stuff.' The dealt with lay offs, the loss of their parents, each lost a sibling, putting up with me, working, staying at home, teeth braces on one child, a back brace on another, living as a family of four in a two bedroom apartment, moving away and returning to Moorhead, seven grandchildren, two weddings, putting two kids through college and graduate school, the death of friends, the death of relatives, my dad's cigar habit, the purchase and loss of family pets, and too many other things to list.
I can't recall one time that they ever left us to go on a vacation. I can't recall them going out and leaving us with a sitter too often for their own "couple time." I think we took a total of two road trips growing up. Believe me, you don't want me to relive those. They were awful.
I just wanted to congratulate my mom and dad on forty years of wedding bliss. Thank you for being role models to us.