by Dave Williams
August 21, 2021
50 years ago today I got married. We were both barely 20.
Five years later we had a son. Five years after that we got divorced.
Today is our 50th anti-versary. That’s the term I invented a few years after we split up when the emotional angst was mostly behind me and I realized something I still think was pretty insightful:
Our marriage didn’t fail, it just ended.
Now, 50 years later I’m proud to say that my high school sweetheart is still my close friend. So is her husband, and they share a happy friendship with my wife of 33 years.
We’ve all shared the best of life over the past several decades: kids, grandkids, a wonderful daughter-in-law and her loving family, holiday gatherings and a lot of happy memories made of special events and activities.
L-R: Emily’s parents, Gloria and George, Karen, Emily, Jeremy, John, CarolAnn, me.
My wives, former and current, have spent days together shopping and taking the grandsons to Disneyland. This past June my ex and her hubby joined us for a weekend road trip celebrating CarolAnn’s and my anniversary.
Some people think this is highly unusual if not downright weird. But I ask you, how do you throw away 50 years of love and respect out of spite? Why would you do that?
The four of us are separately happy together.
Karen and I learned to keep the good times and dump the bad.
So, happy anti-versary, Karen. Give John a hug for CarolAnn and me.
And thanks, for everything.
Not out of the ordinary at all.
Love your stories.
50 years! And a story well worth telling.