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?
We got married in August 1983. We were both 20 and still in college. Throughout our marriage we’ve had 12 dogs and 5 cats. We currently have two of those dogs and one cat. They are all seniors now, just like we are.
We walked down the street to a neighborhood driveway party for NYE. It was cold (for south Alabama), but there were several fire pits to sit around. It was a lot of fun and the latest we’ve been out in years! No big plans for us coming up!
Gayle,
Seventeen animals. That’s a lot! Animals are such a blessing, aren’t they? Enjoy your “seniors” for all the days/years they have left.
What a great neighborhood you live in to have driveway party for NYE. I love that! And congrats for staying out late. At our age, it’s quite an accomplishment! 🙂
We seem to share the same anniversary date of Dec. 30th. We were both 23. The day – in the morning it snowed and in the evening the sky was clear and it was very cold – of course. My main flower was a red rose!! How nice that you can still meet with your singer after all these years. We did have 2 dogs at one time, but the last one got very ill and had to be put down. That was several years ago and haven’t had another one since. Although I do have a dog that lays in it’s bed near the fireplace and breathes and snores. Ah, he’s very fluffy and very fake. Close, but yet so far. All of your dogs have been so cute and Tinker and Belle are no exceptions. Late congrats on your anniversary.
Sharyn,
You are actually sharing an anniversaray with Frank and Sheri; ours is January 2. But they are wonderful folks to share with. 🙂
How fun to have a fake furry dog that is fluffy, breathes, and snores. I love that!
It is so hard to put a dog to sleep. They are such beloved parts of the family.
I’m 43. All these years of reading you and I didn’t realize your marriage and I are just about the same age (though I have a July birthday). 😄 Happy anniversary!
Ellen,
That’s funny that you realized those numbers line up. Forty-three is an excellent number!
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!
DeLynn,
What a wonderful exxperience for your family to take the Costa Rican au pair to her home country to visit. A new experience for you and a special time with family for her. Win win!
Anything C.S. writes or says is so packed with wisdom and the quote you mentioned is a great example of that. People like him don’t come along very often.
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!
Sue Ellen,
Quite an accomplishment! 🙂 Thank you for your consistency in commenting; it means a lot.
Since you werent feeling well for NYE, couch-sitting was the perect activity for you. I kind of love staying in when everyone else is going ouot.
And you have a puppy in the family! What an adventure. Glad to hear he is gaining weight and doing so well.
Happy anniversary! Wow 43 years together! My daughter used to have a stuffed dog that looked just like Snowy in the picture. It even had a purply/maroonish bow thing around it’s neck too! 🙂
Lizz,
Yes, Snowy was definitely a stuffed animal look-alike. And how funny your daughter’s animal even had the bow. 🙂
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
Ruth,
Home sick today but looking forward to the snow tomorrow. Sounds like we’ll get at least an inch and probably more. However, also forecase is for sleet and ice, too, so am hoping we keep our electricity. Definitely will be staying home for the duration.
Jim and I will be married 45 years in May. It is so hard to believe it has been that long. As you know the time literally has flown by. We currently have a miniature schnauzer, Emmee, who is 18 months old. She brings us much joy. I retired 3 weeks ago and am enjoying walking her every day. We typically stay home on New Year’s Eve. Prayers for many blessings this new year. Hugs from the very cold Iowa.
Marjie,
Happy early anniversary on 45 years. Tremendous!
Emmee is such a cute name. And I can only imagine how cute a miniatrue schnauzer would be. Enjoy your retirement with her!
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.
Patti,
God bless your husband for going through so much heartache and then finding love again. I love your story!
I’ve never heard of an Old Peoples’NYE party but I am all about it. That is an incredibly blessing that he has had those same friends for 57 years. Have to say I’m a little jealous!
It is amazing to me that the NYE group has lasted so long. One couple moved and a few were added. We see 4 of the couples just on NYE. 3 of the couples we see more often. Sadly 2 lost their spouse just 2 and 1 month ago. My husband jokes that the “predictions” we make each year have gone from, how many will get married this year, to how many will have kids, to how many will have grandkids, to how many will have a joint replacement…
Patti,
I love how the predictions have changed over the years. Isn’t that just what life is like! At least you have each other to go through it al with. 🙂
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!!
LeeAnne,
Hooray for the 43rd year of marriage! Love to read about your commitment and your joy about the chapter of life that you’re in.
Sorry about the cancelled trip. Definitely don’t want to be out there driving on ice. Yikes. We are expecting ice and snow tomorrow and I’m sure we will hear about a ton of accidents from people who get on those treacherous roads. Thankful for all of our rescue people that go out in that.
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.
Lisa,
I agree; CB is an enormous blessing. I’ll never forget how lonely I felt during those long days in Sarah’s hospital room and then I would open up CB and see all the comments and feel like I wasn’t so alone after all.
I’m like you. I love my sleep a lot more than I love seeing any ball drop!
And what an enormous joy to get to care for your grandson. And now your husband can join you on that wonderful adventure. What an absolute blessing for ALL of you!
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.
Gordon,
Six dogs. At the same time. I can’t even! I know for a fact my limit is two but I admire multi-dog folks like you and Nancy. I know your lives have been made richer by all those furry friends.
If you’re like me, our twenties seems like another lifetime ago. Once we were young; now we are old(er)
I hope your fast goes very well for you and accomplishes all that it needs to. Hello to Nancy!