Milestones and Mile Markers:
I learned it first, truly, on the first drive to Alaska when Mom and Dad first relocated to Anchorage. September 1977. 40+ years ago… Nearly. Dad had taken a job earlier than the physical move, so about this time, he was in the interview process, about to leave his job with Champion Paper Company of nearly 25 years.
Mom and I drove from Houston to Anchorage in four days—96 hours—and that is a story for another day!
Mom had picked up The Milepost… I can’t call it a magazine because it was about the size of a small Sears catalog, but I think that was its moniker. The Milepost Magazine. It had all the routes you could take to drive to Alaska. Along the route, all the necessary stops were identified by the Mile Marker (or Milepost) that they were nearest to – Food, Fuel, Pit stops, sightseeing, Overnight places, and Historical markers. All noted by the milepost. You followed the route, watched the milepost tick down/up (depending on direction), and looked for the necessary stop. Of course, it took 2500 miles of driving from Houston to get to the first milepost of the Alaskan Canadian Highway!
Speaking of mile markers,
The Milepost Magazine has been in operation since 1949,
making it nearly 70 years in production!
Much of life is noted by such markers and stones. We celebrate the first and then note major distances between dates, generally one trip around the sun. Every 365 days, we celebrate. Birthdays start at “zero,” even though you are 9 months old on your first breath day, so we celebrate the first 18 trips around the sun with parties of joy and excitement…then adult living and responsibilities make them a non-event. Married, you celebrate uniquely for a few years, and then anniversaries are specially noted by an increment of 5 years, and you are happy for those incremental views of your life!
But we also note other things as well. Careers and years worked. Special days and events for Grandparents, Parents, Kids, Siblings, Grandkids, Cousins, Aunts, Uncles, In-laws, ex-laws, and out-laws – births, deaths, divorces… You name it. You can pick several things to mark up on your calendar!
Add to this those special memories of others that you note their birth and passing, and all the celebrations of those years fill your calendar, especially when you have a large family.
It was 10 years ago today that my favorite daughter married her favorite and only true love, Mat. Elizabeth changed her last name from one position of the alphabet to another. Our beloved pastor from Texas, Brett Jones, came on his own dime to perform the ceremony. It was a beautiful ceremony. The opening song has a piano intro to a Ben Folds tune that takes me back to this day. You can hear it in my audio version of this blog. To keep from crying as we walked down the aisle, I told Elizabeth my best joke – and I’m not sure which one it was…I think I have two jokes now. Mat serenaded a specially written love song. We all struggled with our tears. 10 years ago.
Ten years is a special milepost—a marker to know you’ve arrived and a series of future markers to aim for, keeping you on the path together. The next ten years will be just as beautiful as the first ten years.
After we celebrated with dinner, we went to the Oregon beach with all those who stayed overnight, sat around a blustery, blown-fire, and celebrated a happy ending to a special day.
A well-deserved ending to a well-deserved couple…
Happy 10th Anniversary, Mat and Elizabeth von Ehrenkrook!
Many more to come!
[For Audio Version click here]