Recent Newaygo County Marriage Licenses

And a few words on marriage longevity

“After 47 years of marriage, isn’t it amazing when you can look at your partner sound asleep next to you and still believe they have potential.” Kaylin McFarren

​The other night I had the opportunity to socialize amidst the tossing of cards with some old friends. And when I say old friends I mean... 
(a) they have been friends a long time 
(b),  like me…they’re old.

Each of us have had lengthy experiences with marriage with most approaching the half century mark of our relationships with these exceptional (and profoundly patient) partners. Each of us speaks well of our spouses (spice?) and each of us are acutely aware that our marital roads did  not always involve easy travels. And yet somehow the relationships found a rhythm of sorts and managed to thrive.

What kept us together? 
Well, there’s love. Always a factor and likely a necessary element if a couple is to get through the constant adjustments inherent in a long term relationship. Particularly when said relationship involves kids, career moves, geographic moves, midlife crises, grandkids, the aging and demise of our own parents, retirement, and the plethora of other changes we all go through. 
There’s commitment. The notion that the other person is #1 and the relationship is more important that the cosmic debris life sometimes tosses our way. The acknowledgement of a special type of partnership.
And of course there is friendship. The overlooking of perceived shortcomings is always ten times easier with friends and nothing sheds a light on a person’s shortcomings like spending a few decades living with them.

These seem to be the primary factors that have held these long-term unions together. 
Along, of course, with the aforementioned patience of our partners. 
Because while my friends and I  have each progressed toward attaining the developmental maturity to match our chronological age…
It hasn’t come without challenges.
And few of us can legitimately claim arrival.

So a toast to these new marriages. May these couples find the rhythm of their own relationship and dance to it through the years ahead.
With care taken to minimize  those inevitable missteps.

The following couples have applied for marriage licenses at the Newaygo County Clerk’s Office.
Jessie Roman, Marlette MI. and Melissa Deible, Grant
Shelley McDonald, Fremont and Rodney McDonald, Fremont
Katelynn Myers, Roseville MI. and Tristan Stehle, Newaygo
Robert Berens, Fremont and Teresa Armstrong Fremont

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