published: Sunday, February 05, 2012

'What about us?'

Along with the usual busyness in 2011, super busyness took over as we helped my parents pack for a move nearer to my brother and his family. This was accomplished the beginning of September followed by a fall car trip to visit family.

After Thanksgiving with my parents, we headed to North Carolina to celebrate our grandchildren's birthdays. After being home for a couple of weeks, we accelerated into preparation mode for a surprise Christmas visit to Pennsylvania with Ken's mom and family.

Home at last late New Year's Day, we began catching up, fully expecting to stay put for a long while. But, two surgeries ... one for my daughter-by-love in North Carolina and one for my mom on the East Coast found us in motion again with only one day home between trips.

In the midst of all of this, we realized that our 30th wedding anniversary was approaching. We considered what we might do. Where would we go for a nice dinner? Did we want to walk the beach or should we head up to Orlando?

The practical side of me kicked in as I reminded Ken of the cost of all the recent trips. He looked up at me and said that we had been doing for everyone in the family ... and gladly.

"But what about us?"

That stopped me in my tracks.

What about us? In the hurried activities of daily living and unexpected situations, how easy to lose the focus of that unique oneness that is "us." And, so, we considered how we might plan something special that expressed who we are as a couple and still stay within budget.

When God created Eve from one of Adam's ribs, he said in Genesis 2: 23a and 24, NKJV, "This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh ... Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh."

Time with family is so important. But, time with one another is, too.

What would we both enjoy that was not too far from home? We didn't want to simply fill the hours. We wanted to experience them ... together.

As we explored the Internet, we found a place in St. Augustine that would help us create a special memory ... a quiet place where we can spend a couple of days reminiscing, dreaming and thanking God for his gracious gift of giving "us" to each other 30 years ago. Selah

Jan Merop of Sebring is a News-Sun correspondent. Guest columns are the opinion of the writer, not necessarily those of the News-Sun staff.