10/10/10. My parents’ 57th wedding anniversary. Jill and I took them out to dinner to celebrate because time together is more valuable than more stuff they don’t really need. We had a great time on the round trip ride and during dinner. We went back to the site of Lindsay and Joe’s wedding reception, and I was struck by the comparison of the two marriages at opposite ends of the time spectrum. Both couples are in love. With the younger one it is more strikingly apparent, like brilliant sun shining in your face, everything is brighter, sharper, and crisper. With the older couple, it’s still the sun, but rather than the light, it’s more the warmth, a slower, more enveloping sense of comfort, stability, dependability. My parents met at the Champlain Valley Fair on a blind date, and they have returned to the Fair every year since. Dad not only sends flowers on their annual anniversary, he brings three roses on the 10th of every month. It may be cloudy occasionally, but after all these years, the sun is still shining!