On the first Monday of each year, I post the names of the top commenters from the previous year. And so today I present the following wonderful Smithellaneous-ites along with the number of comments they contributed.
Sue Ellen (56), Lee Anne (54), Sharyn L. McDonald (45), Patti (41), Lisa L. from GA (38).
I have always said that it’s the commenters who make this blog what it is. I get to know readers’ names and stories and the commenters get to know each others’ names. It’s always so interesting to read what each person has to say. Thank you, not just to the top five, but to everyone who has taken the time to leave a comment in 2024.
I’ve even got a list of my top 20. I do have one question about this list: I’m not sure who Smith is. I don’t think it’s any of my family. Is it one of you?
I had a few days off from work last week so we had some people over for lunch on Thursday. The first question we asked the husband (Kris) shortly after he and his wife walked in was, “Do you know what you were doing exactly 43 years ago today?”
He stopped dead in his tracks and started doing some quick thinking. It probably helped that he saw these flowers from the corner of his eye.
He said, “Is it your anniversary?”
As it turns out, we’d just happened to invite someone over who had sung at our wedding exactly forty-three years earlier. Kris’ family has lived next door to our house for over fifty years; his mom, Miriam, and Vernie were best friends. And Miriam is still living in that house at the age of ninety-seven.
Kris has been to many dozens of countries in his life. In his early 50s, he married Lynette, whom he met online. He lived in Chicago and she lived in Singapore but distance has never been able to get in the way of love. They’ve been married for 16 years and have lived in Singapore that whole time.
Kris is a Mentor-in-Residence at the National University of Singapore and Lynette has been a highly successful CEO who relies on her faith and prayer in her career as is illustrated in this post.
They are an accomplished and fascinating couple and it was such a privilege to spend a few hours with them and have our horizons broadened. They have given us a standing invitation to come to Singapore and stay with them. Wouldn’t that be fun?
we had Meagan’s parents over. Since it was their 45th anniversary on December 30th, and our 43rd on January 2, we splurged on a nice meal. They brought steaks to grill and Steve and I provided all the accouterments. I even got fancy with my dessert.
Wednesday night, we went to Nathan and Meagan’s for a New Year’s Eve gathering. Frank and Sheri don’t get to see our shared grands as often as they’d like so any time spent together is a treasure. (Photo from Sheri.)
On Friday we had Madison and Andrew over for a few hours.
I am happy to report that the thrift store shopping gene has been safely passed down from Sheri to Meagan to Madison who thinks thrifting with Grandma is great. Here she is at Goodwill posing with some teeny weeny jeans.
Madison has changed just a little from some of our earlier times together.
After Goodwill-ing, she and I went to pick up groceries which Andrew very helpfully brought in from the car.
Kids are always saying funny stuff but Andrew made me laugh out loud with one of his kid-isms. He was trying to say he’d had a second serving of something but instead of saying second, he said it was his two-th serving. (Pronounced tooth.) First. Two-th. Third. Fourth. Makes perfect sense, right?
of Tinker and Belle since I was actually able to get them in the same shot together. (Tinker is on the right.)
Speaking of dogs, I ran across this old photo of Sarah with Snowy as a puppy. Does he not look just like a stuffed animal? We have had such sweet dogs in our lives.
with this photo of Steve and me, right about the time we were married; I was nineteen and Steve was twenty-four. (Thanks for the photo, Lorrie.)
Hard to believe two young ‘uns have turned into two old ‘uns. (This is a graphic I made in place of a greeting card.)
All these years later, we have four children, four grandchildren, and more miles and stories than we can count. It hasn’t always been easy and like every marriage, we have faced challenges. We have relied on our faith, good communication, counseling, and the ability to make each other laugh even (especially) when times were hard.
And now we’ve come full circle, back to where it all started, living five minutes from the church where we were married and having lunch with the friend who sang at our wedding.
And somehow, to our great joy, our children and grandchildren have also landed near us which is the most wonderful gift ever, something we never could have planned or foreseen.
Steve and I don’t know what the years ahead hold for us–what joys or challenges wait around the bend. But after forty-three years of walking this road, we remain committed to each other and committed to the journey ahead.
What about you?
If you’re married, how old were you and your spouse when you wed?
How many dogs (or other pets) have you had in your adult life?
Did you go out or stay in for NYE?
Do you have anything interesting or special planned for the first month of this year?
Happy Anniversary!
We were 21 and 24 when we got married…we will celebrate 42 years in June! It’s so hard to believe. (I read that CS Lewis said that we were created for eternity so time doesn’t fit us well. That is why we struggle with it so. That makes sense to me.) Like most, we have had challenges but are so grateful to God for His help in building a lovely marriage!
We stayed in on NYE….we had two of our grandchildren overnight so their parents could get away with friends. We had fun!
We are going to Costa Rica in a couple weeks with those same grandchildren and their parents. They have an au pair who is from CR and since they can work remotely thought it would be fun to go to her country for a bit. We will be there for about 10 days.
Many blessings on you in the new year!
Happy Anniversary!
We were 21 and 24 when we got married…we will celebrate 42 years in June! It’s so hard to believe. (I read that CS Lewis said that we were created for eternity so time doesn’t fit us well. That is why we struggle with it so. That makes sense to me.) Like most, we have had challenges but are so grateful to God for His help in building a lovely marriage!
We stayed in on NYE….we had two of our grandchildren overnight so their parents could get away with friends. We had fun!
We are going to Costa Rica in a couple weeks with those same grandchildren and their parents. They have an au pair who is from CR and since they can work remotely thought it would be fun to go to her country for a bit. We will be there for about 10 days.
Many blessings on you in the new year!
Wow – I never expected I’d be your top commentor for 2024.
Tim & I were married on October 26, 1990 and I turned 29 on November 6, 1990 (and he turned 29 on November 10th).
When our children were growing up, we had had a total of 3 dogs. We now have grand-puppies. Our youngest has a 7-year-old German Shepherd and they visit almost every weekend (and we puppy-sit when she travels). Our middle child who lives at home got a 5-month-old German Shepherd for Christmas, so we have a new baby at home. Thankfully he was pretty much “puppy-pad trained” when she brought him home. Now the goal is to get some weight on him (when she rescued him he was about 2 months underweight).
As usual, I spent New Years Eve on the couch watching TV. I wasn’t feeling well and went to bed shortly after midnight. We don’t currently have any plans for January, but ya’ never know what might come up!
It’s so neat that Vernie’s best friend still lives next door and that you were able to visit with her son, who sang at your wedding.
I hope you and yours have a wonderful week!
Busy days for you, but happy ones all in all!
So good you always count your blessings and live with a thankful spirit–I have noticed that about you for a long time! Pass that spiritual practice on to your grands!
(Enjoy any snowflakes coming your way soon.) Ruth
Happy Anniversary and Happy New Year.
I was 50 when I married for the first time. Hubby was 58 and had been married twice (lost both wives, one to lupus and one to cancer)
I never really had any pets, other than mice and turtle in my classroom. Not really a animal person. Hubby has a parrot.
We switched to an “old peoples” New Years Eve party and met from 1-4pm so we could drive home before dark. This group of my husbands friends have been meeting on New Years Eve for 57 years.
It was a bit anti-climatic not meeting at night, but was happy to be home and still stayed up till midnight.
No special plans for the month. Still in a splint from my hand surgery, so mostly relaxing at home and watching old movies.
I was 22 and Jeff was 25 when we were married. We will celebrate our 43rd anniversary this year. And you’re right…marriage is challenging for sure but we are more committed than ever and loving where God has us.
We have never had any dogs. Oh Snowy really does look like a stuffed animal!!
We spent New Year’s Eve with our kids and watched the ball drop with the one grandchild that was able to stay awake until midnight.
We had a trip planned to go to Denver with friends this past weekend but had to cancel due to weather. Icy roads and snow. Darn!! We’ll plan another!!
Happy Anniversary!! I feel like I have been around forever. I remember a post when you were celebrating 34 years and I thought that was a long time. Now we will celebrate 34 years this April. Time is a thief! I began following you in 2005ish on CaringBridge. When we lost our Sarah, CaringBridge wasn’t a thing. Well the Internet wasn’t much of a thing back in the 1990s. I loved how CaringBridge brought families and people together to support one another. I came across many families whose children were battling cancer and other childhood diseases. I was honored to pray for each of those families, including your own, during those trying and tumultuous times in your lives.
Now to the questions…
We typically sleep through the “ball drop”. I’ve never been a big “going out on New Year’s Eve” kind of girl.
We have had too many dogs to count since our kids were young. We live in the country, so we had many dogs that stayed outside. After having several get hit by cars and meet other tragic ends, we began with inside pets. We currently have three dogs. They are all rescues and have become our kids since ours are out the house now.
My new year is going to be much like last year. I am continuing to keep our precious grandbaby. I love having a front row seat to his development and learning. He’s walking now and beginning to really talk. He knows me and gets excited when I come in the room. When my daughter first married and moved two hours away, I was concerned that we were going to be the “far away“ grandparents when they had children. Now, I get to see him every week and spend two nights a week at my their house since I keep him Mondays and Tuesdays. My husband is planning to retire at the beginning of next year, and I imagine we’ll be doing this together when that happens. It’s been a blessing that I am forever grateful for.
Nancy and I were 20 and 25 (okay, I was 2 weeks short of 26) when we married. We’ve had 8 dogs over the years, and at one point we had 6 at the same time! We are down to 3 right now, and we’re pursuing the Highlander status – “There can be only one.” It took me hours to decide what to wear to the living room on New Year’s Eve, and then I didn’t even go. I was in bed at 9:30! I’m just starting a doctor-recommended extended fast this month. It’ll give me some time to also refocus spiritually.