How much is two thirds of a life?

[DFW]

For my wife and myself, that would be our 44 years together.

We met on July 25th, 1974 in a smoky cabaret in West Berlin. The only seating was long benches in front of the stage, and it was always packed. I had briefly chatted to a girl from Münster. She told me she was leaving fro China the next day, but I should meet her girlfriend. I said, sure, where is she? She answered, right here, and leaned backward. I saw a tall, blond vision with such a lovely, intelligent face that thought, oh YES I should meet your friend! It turned out she had never met an American who spoke German before, and was somewhat intrigued as well. As it often happens with 22 year olds on vacation, things didn't take long. I thought I had found the girl of my dreams. She thought, that was a nice summer fling, but America is at the other end of the solar system, and that was that. She didn't count on my persistence, and I soon showed her that America was not in annother galaxy, but as close as the nearest airport.

At age 22, 66 seems like somewhere in the fossil section of the nearest Natural History museum. Now, as grandparents, we can't imagine a time when we were NOT together.

Some stops along the journey (DU old timers will remember a few):

In the beginning, there was an unsuspecting teenager in the flat farmland of northwestern Germany, never imagining that her life was soon to be disrupted a few years later by yours truly:
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Then, it was the two of us.....

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A double wedding with my brother....
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A primitive "honeymoon" on a tiny island in Croatia:
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Pregnant with our first:
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Which led to a couple of daughters along the way......
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....who came to hang with interesting people.....
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...but are interesting in their own right......
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Some happy times.....
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And some friends to remind us that things can change in a single instant....
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In Budapest, 2012 (never a dull moment--and barely any kind of moment):
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In Maine with a daughter and a friend the day after the christening of a ship named after the father of good friends of ours:
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Washington, 2012:
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Back in Croatia, 2017, 35 years after the first time:
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And now we are back on Cape Cod, a tradition we started half our own lives ago. It's a long way from Düsseldorf, but the sea, the tranquility, the food and the people keep luring us back. After raising two children, battling heart attacks, cancer (twice) and stress jobs, we feel we can offer ourselves that one perk. Our time here always passes more quickly than we want, but what good things in life don't do that?

[Zoonart]

1. Lovely.

Thanks for sharing. Mr. and I will be celebrating our 32nd anniversary this September. It is the second marriage for both of us and it stuck. Will celebrate with kids and grands... where does it go?

[DFW]

2. The eternal question

*poof* and it's gone.

[barbtries]

3. have a fabulous vacation.

when i saw you with Al Franken i nearly broke down in tears.

i guess you figured out early happy wife, happy life. happy anniversary!

[DFW]

4. It didn't take me long to figure that out

But it didn't take me long to figure out that I got VERY lucky, too.

Al Franken, ---I know, I know

[CaliforniaPeggy]

5. Beautiful, beautiful photos, my dear DFW!

Lionel and I feel very lucky to know you both.......

So many adventures! Blessings to you both!

[DFW]

11. Thanks, Peggy!

It was great to have you both over.

The greatest adventure was being able to share all the others with her!

[bif]

6. Congrats!

Where on "The Cod" (as I like to call it), do you stay? We rented a cottage in Truro several summers in a row with our two daughters.

[DFW]

12. GMTA!

We are in Truro!

If we wanted wall-to-wall people on a beach, we would have stayed in Europe.

[bif]

14. Loved it!

Wellfleet, Truro, and most of P-Town are great. All the cottages we rented felt like we were out in the country. You could hardly see any other cottages the woods were so think. Have a great time!

[DFW]

18. So do we!

Western Europe is so thickly populated, I enjoy coming out here to Truro, where it thins out considerably. We sometimes go into Wellfleet, where we have a few favorite places, and Provincetown, where we have more favorite places and a few friends. But most of the time, we hang here in Truro and do our annual (and sorely needed) battery recharging.

[bif]

23. I remember a great seafood market in Wellfleet

I think it was called Hatches. It's been many years since we were there. And in P-town, there was a cool old bowling alley. It was an old fashioned style of bowling. Ninepin? I also remember a Portuguese pizza place that served Linguesa or something like that on it. Good times.

[DFW]

25. Hatch's is still there

But it is ridiculously expensive. We needed a tomato last week, and so passed by there to buy one. $3.75 for a TOMATO.

I know it's tourist season, but gimme a break!

[LuckyCharms]

7. Oh man I love these pictures!

Thank you for posting.

[DFW]

13. Put together like that in one post, it may seem like a documentary

It masks all the ordinary, mundane stuff that went on in between!

[fierywoman]

8. Thank you for sharing such happiness with us !

[DFW]

15. One chance meeting

I have to wonder how many people just miss out on meeting "THE" one, who is sitting one or two people over somewhere, and they pass like ships in the night just because the person next to them didn't lean back at just the right moment.

[fierywoman]

21. Not only the meeting, but one has to have the guts and perseverance

to follow through!

[DFW]

22. My attitude up that point......

It was not conducive to success. I figured, "it's useless, what chance could a nerd like me ever have with a woman like that?" But it dawned on me (just in time) that if I continued with that attitude, I never WOULD have a chance with a woman like that. So, like I've explained before, I ditched the attitude and gained a wife. That was a trade I never regretted making.

[fierywoman]

24. I find it fascinating how altering or changing one's thoughts can change one's

reality. I am patiently waiting for the "hundreth monkey" to change the attitude in the US and thereby change the course of where we're heading (at the moment.) I feel we're getting close.
(I have no patience for the doom-and-gloomers!)
From a purely selfish point of view, I'm so glad you survived the things you survived because I really enjoy your comments here.

[DFW]

26. I fear we still have a few monkeys to go. But we're getting there. Remember Popeye:

"That's all I can stand, 'cause I can't stands no more!"

As for my comments on DU, your sentiments are definitely not unanimously shared, so I appreciate the kind words! Thanks!

[panader0]

9. Great pics--you've led a very interesting life.

Congrats!

[DFW]

17. We had to wade through two rounds of cancer and one heart attack on the way

But we prefer to dwell on the positive.

(Dwelling on the negative is SO Republican! )

[Grammy23]

10. My husband and I will celebrate our 50th anniversary this fall with a

Viking River Cruise in France. We married at age 20 in 1968. We were naive and clueless to the twists and turns that awaited us. Many events along the way shaped us, frightened us, surprised and delighted us and made us who we are today. It is breath taking in many respects to look back across a life time filled with the mundane, the spectacular and the amazing things that have occurred in our lives. The fact that we stayed together through all the ups and downs of our lives is remarkable, but is testimony to the fact that there really was something that drew us to each other all those years ago.

Thanks for sharing your journey with your bride. We all have stories to tell and sharing them pulls us closer together with our fellow travelers on this journey we call life! Congratulations on your milestone, DFW!

[DFW]

16. 50th anniversary! now THAT is a milestone

You have something very rare. Very few couples who get married at 20 are fortunate enough to do so with the right partner. Like you said, naïve and clueless. The two of you must have something very special to have made it through all the twists and turns, as you so aptly put it. Some do, many don't.

We met at 22, but didn't get married until we were 30. Even then we never really found the time to get married. It was my brother who invited us to our (and his) wedding. Otherwise, we would still probably be wrestling with the logistics of it all.

[ploppy]

19. Thank you for sharing

What a wonderful walk down memory lane!!!

[DFW]

20. If the walk gets any longer, we're both going to need a cane before long! n/t

[alwaysinasnit]

27. Congratulations!

I had seen some of your beautiful pictures from before. It is great to see them again along with the new additions. I am happy for you both.

[DFW]

31. I was too lazy to go search fot all new pictures

Hey, I'm on vacation!

[spooky3]

28. Both of you are very lucky (and smart) people! Best wishes for

many more years together.

[DFW]

29. More lucky than smart, I'd say

(What's a nice girl like her doing with a jerk like me, right?)

As for the many more years, who knows how long we have left before genetics start to kick in? Both my parents and ALL their siblings had cancer. With me, it's not "if" but "when?" My wife is the tough one. Most of the women in her family have had cancer twice, and all of them lived to be over 90. Of my four grandparents, two never made it to 70, one made it to 80 (as a vegetable) and one, my brilliant grandfather, made it to 102. Long odds.

But we've had 44 years together, two smart and attractive daughters, and some extraordinary travels and friends. Not that I'm in any hurry to depart this world, but I can't say I feel I've been cheated out of much.

[irisblue]

30. You've been quite blessed

And are smart enough to value it.
Lovely Family

[DFW]

32. I'd have to be pretty dense not to value it

With all the ugly medical challenges that fate has tossed our way, there hasn't yet been one that we haven't overcome. We also know that won't remain the case forever.

Thanks for the kind words!

[smirkymonkey]

33. What a lovely photo journey!

Thank you for sharing that with us. I hope you are enjoying your relaxing vacation down on the Cape. I love it down there, especially out where you are. I am not too far away - in Boston - but I hardly ever get down there anymore as I usually go up to Maine where my sister and her family live (also a very beautiful seashore and vacation spot). I hope to get back down to the Cape again soon.

Enjoy the rest of your vacation!

[DFW]

34. Thanks, we'll try!

I can't believe it's half over already. Still lots of stuff to do. Our US-based daughter arrives for the weekend in a few hours. Arlo Guthrie tomorrow night. I do a guest spot on the community radio station on Monday. Friends from Holland arrive this weekend, too.

The next two weeks will be over in a blur.

We'll be in Boston on August 12th for a couple of hours before we leave for the far corners of the earth. Let us know if you're free for coffee!