(Anniversary Soundtrack for your reading pleasure, which just popped up on my iPod Genius on my starlit walk and which I love so very dearly. Go to the very bottom of the post, click "play" and then come back to the start!)
******* * * * * * * * * * *
...caught the eye of a pretty, wholesome, velvet-voiced girl named Marty who had the most heart-stopping smile he had ever seen.
Music (namely a college group called "The Sound Generation" from tiny John Brown University in NW Arkansas) brought them together and into a unique world of nationwide travel, dashing celebrity and warm California nights.
Music (namely a college group called "The Sound Generation" from tiny John Brown University in NW Arkansas) brought them together and into a unique world of nationwide travel, dashing celebrity and warm California nights.
He wooed her with clever love letters and a staggering wit...
...and took her on some unconventional dates which made her laugh, wonder and soon know for certain that he was the one for her.
They married on August 30, 1968 and moved into married student housing. A couple of houses and a Winnebago later, they welcomed this little gem, Angela Noel, into the world. She loved to wear her shades upside down and put lots of pieces of Doublemint gum in her mouth at once.
A few years and another city later, this perpetually sleepy-eyed little chunk, Kirsten Evie, joined the family. She loved to sleep. Still does.
Angela and Evie, two wackos on wheels, kept Marty and Johnny on their toes. Their heads spun. They wondered what they'd gotten themselves into. They began to create, very organically, a world of love, faith, humor, affection, creativity and good taste for their little family. They say now that they had no idea what they were doing, but they were doing the most important thing well: loving one another. Their girls often took notice.
This stylish family was sometimes color-coded, and always with a sweet ride (silver Cadillac, yes?) in the driveway (whether they could afford it or not).
Many years later (and many bad photographs later which, I'm sorry to report, will not be featured here), they had weathered some storms of adolescence and heartbreak. With one happy addition -- Angela's wise choice for a husband in Joshua Samuel Prichard -- the five still remain and thrive as a tight-knit family unit. (And they patiently wait and pray for the sixth.)
Marty gets more gorgeous, patient, and endearing with every passing year, Johnny gets more hilarious, more soft-hearted and more (can it be?) crazy. They knew. Isn't it remarkable? Way back, they just knew. They were meant, created, destined, one for another.
Happy 43rd anniversary, mom and pop! (raise a glass) Here's to many, many more.....
"Eyes On the Prize"
M. Ward
Everything I've learned I have forgotten
Everything I've forgotten looks just like new
I pulled the ends out for the tie that binds
To keep my promise with you
With my eyes on the prize
And my mind on you
I put my pride on the line
My whole life too
Now anything you ask me for is yours
Now say the word and I'll lay it at your feet
I'll meet the payments down the line somehow
If you keep your promise with me
With my eyes on the prize
And my mind on you
I put my pride on the line
And my whole life too
You say take your axe and fashion me a kind of sway
Walkin' blues have played a number on my feet
And I'll dance whatever dance you need to dance
'Cause you keep your promise with me
You'll keep your promise with me
You'll keep your promise
You'll keep your promise
You'll keep your promise with me
Everything I've forgotten looks just like new
I pulled the ends out for the tie that binds
To keep my promise with you
With my eyes on the prize
And my mind on you
I put my pride on the line
My whole life too
Now anything you ask me for is yours
Now say the word and I'll lay it at your feet
I'll meet the payments down the line somehow
If you keep your promise with me
With my eyes on the prize
And my mind on you
I put my pride on the line
And my whole life too
You say take your axe and fashion me a kind of sway
Walkin' blues have played a number on my feet
And I'll dance whatever dance you need to dance
'Cause you keep your promise with me
You'll keep your promise with me
You'll keep your promise
You'll keep your promise
You'll keep your promise with me
