Happy 30th Anniversary, Tom.

The new "Mr. and Mrs. Gregory."

Today I am married 30 years.

30 consecutive years to the same person.

It's not easy to be married.  Anybody who is married knows this to be true.

The spouse is always the prime suspect when their spouse goes missing, or turns up dead.  That should tell you everything you need to know about marriage.

Marriage is hard work, but I think it's worth the effort.

I'm a little nervous about writing this post because I feel like if I tell you some of the reasons why I'm still happy I married my husband I'll jinx myself, and next week I'll find out he has a second family.  You know that's the way it always goes.

Oh well, I'll take the risk.

I feel fortunate to still be in love with the person I married.  Why?

He makes the coffee every morning and brings it to me in bed.  This is a big one.

He's funny and fun.  We still enjoy each other's company and have lots of laughs together.  Usually at his expense.

He's a wonderful dad.  I don't think the boys truly understand how good their father is to them.  Lucky for them, it's all they know.

He's easy.  Tom goes along with most things and I'm grateful I don't have to waste a lot of energy convincing him to see things my way.  Well, he is smart.

He cares about my happiness.  This can be challenging because what makes me happy changes daily.  I'm a little fickle.

He's a hard worker.  I often joke that the secret to our long marriage is "direct deposit."  Direct deposit of his pay check.  Sadly, you cannot live on love despite your best efforts.

When you marry when you are youngsters, like us, you grow together.  That's what we've done.  We've struggled and we've prospered, but all the while we've been a team.

Now before you turn green with envy let me assure you it's not been all sunshine and roses.  There are plenty of things that bug me about my husband and he can probably come up with 1 or 2 things about me that bug him, but overall the good far outweighs any bad.

I hope I have at least 30 more years with Tom, and a future filled with good health, daughters-in-law, grandchildren, beaches, martinis, beers, and dogs.

Happy Anniversary, Tom.