.jackpot part 3.

Forgive me bloggers, but it has been a long freakin' time since my last blog. And this has happened several times over the course of my planning, forgive me and accept my apologies. Just when I think that life is settling down, something else happens. This is slated to be a JACKPOT blog, so on we go with that.... my excuses for not blogging will follow another day.

JACKPOT::

I feel as tho BOTH Mr. Nearlywed and I are hitting the JACKPOT on this one.... our parents! We both have amazing parents, which, after reading several wedding forums, makes us realize how lucky we are. While my path to approval by the in-laws wasn't always a yellow brick road, the point is, now, it is great! Yay. What makes this a JACKPOT blog is not that we are combining two cool families, but the roles models they have provided for our lives- especially in marriage.

This past July...my parents celebrated 38 years of happily ever after. While I am not so naive to know that not all 38 of those years were for better, richer and in health, I never knew if there were any worse, poorer or sickness issues. Well, ok, I knew if someone was in poor health, but you get it. Anytime there was something wrong or a disagreement to be had, it was kept from the kids. As I grew and became more wise and aware, I knew that not everything was roses but appreciated that my parents never fought opening and in front of the kids. Sure, there were disagreements but in all seriousness, I can't tell you when there was an all out battle. I've heard small town rumors....which just goes to show that either someone made something up or someone they trusted didn't keep their mouth shut, but I digress.

Maybe growing up, I didn't have a brand new car or the latest fashions, but I never had to want for anything we needed. I was always covered with my basics and then some. My parents were the cool parents, even though I wanted to disagree with that. My friends would hang at our house and they knew everyone and everyone knew them. Overall, both my sister and I turned our pretty well. And with them as role models for my life and my marriage, I am sure to succeed.

Before Mr. Nearlywed and I met, back in his single/dating days, his mother wanted him to find a "Catholic girl whose parents are still together." Can you imagine how difficult that is in Las Vegas?!? VERY difficult. It is hard enough to find someone who still has both parents happily married yet alone to find someone who is also Catholic. She promised him $1,000 if he ever did find that person. By the end of this blog, you will know the answer.

Mr. Nearlywed also comes from a solid family and two parents who stayed true to their vows and were together for all the days of their lives. While I don't know how many anniversaries they shared, I do know that once Flo's father's health took a turn for the worse, his mother was there, by dad's side every day. EVERY day. Not just here and there, but day in and day out. And that became one of the unwritten qualities in a woman for which Mr. Nearlywed searched. As someone who cried when they think of the words, "In sickness and in health..." this not only makes me happy to know that Mr. Nearlywed will be by my side just as I will be by his.

When I think back to other who I've dated.... I have to take it back to high school to find a boyfriend whose parents were still together. But at the age of 16, what do you really know about dating and life? When I think about how those relationships worked & ended, I look back on the issues that we had, it became clear that without that solid relationship role model, we were on different paths. Clearly different paths.

Now... I am NOT at all saying that if your parents are divorced you can't have a happy and healthy marriage/relationship.....but what I am saying is that having grown up in solid households, it helps us to put forth more effort and say our vows of marriage very seriously and looking up to my parents and future in-laws as role models. We won't let them down.