The day this is written, daddy and I are celebrating our 10th wedding anniversary. 10 years! How long it seems in yet how short! That summer day so long ago, marked the first break in his family circle and in mine. At our house there were six children none of whom had yet gone out into the world to seek his fortune. We had never been separated on Thanksgiving or Christmas. We had never known death or sickness or suffering in the family group, as far as children could remember. Both our parents and three of our grandparents were still living and we had aunts and uncles and cousins glower. Our life was so normal and contented, that when a sister of mine once wrote a story about us, her professor, not knowing it was taken from life made the comment "Interesting, but for pretty sake, have something HAPPEN!"
Since that autumn day, everyone of the six children has married and gone away. Only one lives in the same community as the parents, the rest are scattered from Ohio to California. 10 grandchildren have come into the family but two of the precious souls had to be given up in their infancy. The aged grandparents still so active and alert on our wedding day have passed away.
How Short They Seem!
How short the years have seemed! So crowded with events! So busy! That autumn 10 years ago, we were the community newlyweds, and we received our traditional charivari and gave our traditional party. But in a few months, another couple was in the limelight, and then another and another. At first, we were the young married folks, but little by little, as our families began to absorb more of our time and attention, we dropped out of the more active set and newer couples filled up our places. It has been so gradual a process that we have hardly realized it; like the man who edged over farther and farther on the log to make room for others, until he suddenly fell off the end. The youngsters who are marrying this year were in the grades 10 years ago! No doubt they class us (as we did folks with families when we married) as "the old folks."
10 years gives folks a tremendous education in the business of living. I remember we anticipated that in 10 years we would be so well established in life we would build our new and permanent home. Well, we have done it not because we reached the point we expected, but because Fate played us a trick and we had to build the replace the house that burned.
All Allows One Half
The first or second fall we were married daddy made some computations on paper relative to the profits on a hog project. I remember looking over the figures admiringly, thinking "How sound and conservative he is! He has provided for every possible contingency, and this net profit is really bound to be larger than he has made it." But when we showed the figures to his mother, she smiled and said after you have deducted every loss or expense you can think of, just divide the net profit in two, and you'll come near to having your actual profit.
I was quite shocked that anyone could be so cynical! But that fall when we shipped some feeder pigs from Kansas City, by somebody's error a cargo of deadly cholera germs came along. One by one our beautiful purebred Berkshires succumbed -- little pigs, half grown shoats and big hogs. It was not many days before we had a horrible funeral pryre to mark the place where that year's profits went up in smoke. Since then I have considered it one of the soundest principles of bookkeeping or budget-making to allow a margin of safety of just one half the anticipated profit. It is a neat and simple device for avoiding distress; for nine times out of 10 a timely little disaster will happen along and knock all your plans edgewise. "Blessed be those who expect a little for, for they shall not be disappointed."
Are Just Preliminary
But on average, we haven't had too much of bad luck, and not too much of good. It seems as though all the 10 years are just a preliminary. We have our children well started, our house built, and our business on a sound foundation. Now we are ready to begin. Doubtless there could be a lot of moralizing on the significance of the first 10 years but –
I called Jim to look this over saying I don't know how to finish it. His frivolous reply was nobody knows yet how it's going to finish. He spoke a weightier truth than he intended. 10 years is hardly long enough along the path of life for one to draw profound conclusions on the philosophy of the world. I'll just leave it at this. We've been married 10 years and every one of you will supply your own thoughts, sweet or bitter, according to your own experiences. Those who have traveled on beyond our milestone will smile, and say "How much they have yet to learn," and those who have just been married, will cry "10 years! An eternity! – Hope