Thirty years of "no."

I met my wife when I was eighteen. Those of you who have experienced parenthood know about the terrible "two's." Infancy only lasts so long, so that tender moment of resistance only seems like a lifetime.

Mom and dads, you won't see that again until the teenage years. But what about "no" marriage? In my one relationship, there were seven years of courting. I was the broke student, and my nose was wide open for this older woman.

In marriage, there were seven years of no children, so many distractions deferred attention from real problems. So what about the lasr sixteen years? I beat 21 for my wife, so I've known this person for her twenties, thirties and forties. Next year she's 50; so I'm looking forward to a whole bunch of "yeses" in 2017.