©2009-2016 Becky Higgins

Monday, July 16, 2012

Antique or Not?


Many years ago when I had a brief interest in collecting antiques, someone told me “anything at least 50 years old is considered an antique.” Well, by that definition I reached said title some years ago and now so has my marriage. Today, my husband and I are celebrating our golden anniversary cruising with our girls and their families. How fortunate we are to have our whole crew with us for this occasion.

June and July of 1962 held significant events for me. I graduated from North Park Academy in Chicago in June and married my longtime friend in July.  I was extremely happy to put high school behind me and overjoyed to move towards building a life together with my new husband.

Jim and I met at Second Baptist Church in Chicago when he was 12 and I was 10. My family had recently moved from small town Indiana to Chicago; Jim’s family had been in Chicago for several  generations. We spent most weekends attending the various activities offered by our Church. As time went on we were on-again off-again dating, then Jim graduated and joined the Air Force. After his first leave, we were on-again for good
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Although not exactly thrilled about our upcoming union, (they thought we were too young) Jim’s parents came through with flying colors. They, with my soon-to-be sister-in-law drove me up the then unpaved Alcan highway to Anchorage, Alaska where Jim was serving at Elmendorf  Air Force base. What an adventure that was!!

Ours was a small wedding in the chapel on base. We had six in attendance, not counting Jim, me and the Chaplin. One additional friend was supposed to come and take pictures but he forgot. So we have very few pictures of the day; however, some is better than none. After a lunch at a pancake house, Jim’s parents headed home and Jim went to work (that was a prank and they sent him home almost immediately).

It was fifty years ago today but for me it seems like yesterday. Yes, we have two grown daughters who have four grown children but it has all passed so quickly.  If not for mirrors and the occasional aches and pains from an aging body, I’d swear I was still that young woman looking into the loving eyes of that dashing Airman.