โ๐๐ง๐ค๐ฌ ๐ค๐ก๐ ๐๐ก๐ค๐ฃ๐ ๐ฌ๐๐ฉ๐ ๐ข๐! ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐จ๐ฉ ๐๐จ ๐ฎ๐๐ฉ ๐ฉ๐ค ๐๐, ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐ก๐๐จ๐ฉ ๐ค๐ ๐ก๐๐๐, ๐๐ค๐ง ๐ฌ๐๐๐๐ ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐๐๐ง๐จ๐ฉ ๐ฌ๐๐จ ๐ข๐๐๐: ๐๐ช๐ง ๐ฉ๐๐ข๐๐จ ๐๐ง๐ ๐๐ฃ ๐๐๐จ ๐๐๐ฃ๐ ๐๐๐ค ๐จ๐๐๐ฉ๐, โ๐ผ ๐ฌ๐๐ค๐ก๐ ๐ ๐ฅ๐ก๐๐ฃ๐ฃ๐๐, ๐ฎ๐ค๐ช๐ฉ๐ ๐จ๐๐ค๐ฌ๐จ ๐๐ช๐ฉ ๐๐๐ก๐; ๐ฉ๐ง๐ช๐จ๐ฉ ๐๐ค๐: ๐จ๐๐ ๐๐ก๐ก, ๐ฃ๐ค๐ง ๐๐ ๐๐๐ง๐๐๐!’โ
๐๐ง๐ค๐ข ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐ฅ๐ค๐๐ข “๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ฃ ๐๐ฏ๐ง๐”, ๐๐ฎ ๐๐ค๐๐๐ง๐ฉ ๐ฝ๐ง๐ค๐ฌ๐ฃ๐๐ฃ๐ (๐ญ๐ด๐ฒ๐ฐ)
๐๐ฟ๐ผ๐ ๐ข๐น๐ฑ ๐๐น๐ผ๐ป๐ด ๐๐ถ๐๐ต ๐ ๐ฒ, ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ฒ๐๐ ๐ถ๐ ๐ฌ๐ฒ๐ ๐๐ผ ๐๐ฒ
Jean and I celebrated our 44th wedding anniversary this past weekend on the beach in Spring Lake, NJ where we live, reflecting on our journey since those early days as Ph.D students at Fordham University.
Lots of life experience packed within those 44 years with many, many moments of great joy but also some moments of great challenge and loss as any couple and family will likely experience in this earthly life.
They say that when youโre young you want to do everything together and that was always the case for us.
They say that when youโre older, you want to go everywhere together which rings true as well for us.
And now at this age and time of our life, we feel that weโve been everywhere and done everything and all that really matters is that weโre together and boy does that feel great.
I am super grateful that Jean said Yes in taking my hand in marriage all those years ago and that I listened to my Dad that Sunday morning in the last week of August 1978 who encouraged me to go to Fordham a year before I met Jean — Wow!
As the great Robert Browning poem above says so eloquently, Jean — “Grow old along with me, the best is yet to beโ. 
