Yesterday, 4/28/2024 was my wife’s and my 62nd wedding anniversary. Boy, have things changed since we were first married. Gasoline was less than a quarter a gallon. Computers and cell phones had not been invented. For $20, we could fill two paper shopping bags with enough great red meat to last us weeks. We both worked, she at Purdue where I was a student. We got up early and went to bed early. Life was good and uncomplicated. My kidneys worked. I could drink beer. Did I say life was good?
My wife of 62 years and I met on a blind date at Purdue which was arranged by one of my Navy buddies. We went bowling in October 1961 and were married the following April. I was a student at Purdue attending a program the Navy had at the time named NESEP, for Navy Enlisted Scientific Program. The NESEP incentive intended to provide the Navy with officers with intensive training in needed technical areas like Electrical Engineering to manage the nascent switch to digital technologies that were on the horizon for the Navy. Officers coming out the the US Naval Academy were just not as prepared as was needed. I ended up with a BSEE/MSEE, graduating with Distinction in four years.
This education, along with a perfect wife, has stood me in good stead for these many years. I can’t say how important and central to my general well-being and lately, dialysis care, my wife has been. She is and continues to be the most important reason I get up every morning with the mantra, “Never ring the bell!” Thank you, Linda, for who you are and what you are. I know that you are in my corner regardless of what dialysis throws at us. (The lead graphic is the cover of the anniversary card my wife gave me for our anniversary.)
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