Happy 70th Anniversary Mary and Emil!

Today, my ‘adopted grandparents’ are celebrating their 70th wedding anniversary! We’ve been blessed to be their adopted family for 30 years now. Next door neighbors since the day my parents married and moved into our home, we’ve shared so many memories- and I’m so excited that this is one of them! It certainly doesn’t happen often. Think about it- most of us don’t even have a shot at having a 70th anniversary. (By the way- the traditional gift is platinum. And for an 80th anniversary it’s oak. I can only think of one really practical use for oak around the age of 100---and I think that’s cruel!) Anyway- on with the this----

Emil said at Christmas about the approaching celebration, “I didn’t think I’d live to be 70 years old- let alone married this long!!”

The story of how they met is a fairytale- maybe because it was 1938- maybe because for fun they went dancing on Saturday nights and a date cost 5 cents- because the places they lived and worked are only in pictures of the past.

He was a buff football player. She was the cafeteria worker. She cut her leg on some glass. He carried her upstairs to dress the wound. BAM! I don’t know if that’s exactly how they’ve told the story- but I like it like that. My favorite part is that they eloped in Waukegan after only a short courtship. Both living at home with their parents, they got the required physical, drove down, got hitched, stopped for a beer, and then went back to live separately with their parents. It wasn’t until a few weeks later when Emil’s mom was doing his laundry that the secret was discovered. She cleaned out his pockets and found a physical slip with Mary’s name on it. She said, “This Mary Helen- are you married to her?” How cool is that!

It could be the one martini a day (err straight glass of gin) that keeps them going. But, I’d put my money on the bond they have and the love they share. It’s been pretty incredible to witness.

So today, March 19, 2009 we raise our martinis high and toast to 70 years of marriage!
CHEERS-- Mary and Emily Pietrangeli---CHEERS!!