Forty years ago, this date,
This woman was married to this man,
How she managed this herculean task
Only she would understand.
On the 1st August 1981
We walked out of White Park Church,
Married by the late George C. West
And today it still works.
I give to Almighty God the praise
For the patience he gave my wife
To harness this bundle of mischief
And made him hers for life.
She has been a tower of strength
All through these forty years
And when pain assaulted her body
Her resilience was in her tears.
Second to choosing Christ
She was the best of my other choices
Even though, As I recollect,
Few were the competing voices.
Often, I have heard it said
It’s difficult to understand a woman,
Well another forty years with her
Should help to solve that problem.
As for me, it is forever I do
For, why would I want to change?
To give up this precious gift I have,
I would have to be deranged.
Why she is my children’s mother,
A devoted and submissive wife,
And she has never left my side
Amidst pain or challenge or strife.
At home she lets me be the head,
Away, I pretend to be the boss
And all she does is to encourage me,
Never becoming cross.
Some have often warned me
That she will knock me on my head
But not this precious lady,
She would just laugh instead.
I am an extremely fortunate man
To have wedded this earthly pearl
And though sometimes I do not show it,
Lynette is truly my world.
Ten years after I started to teach
I took this woman to wife
And ten years into my retirement,
She is still my darling wife.
So, you see the significance of forty
As an educator and a married man,
Forty years educating and forty years married:
Sounds just like a Divine plan!
Today, I celebrate with one and all
And in a toast, I raise my glass,
You must admit, if you’ve read this poem,
My wife has got to be class.
Thanks to God
Thanks to family
Thanks to friends
And to all who have supported us through the years.
Stewart Russell © August 1, 2021
