Swimming in the Wake

This week my wife and I celebrated or 50th wedding anniversary with family and friends.  We rented a venue and invited about 55-60 people who share a family history with us.   Although we invited our children to help us plan the celebration, they stealthfully took over all aspects from designing and sending invitations to the final clean up after the event ended.  In short, they largely intended to keep us somewhat removed until the day of the event.  We loved and will forever cherish their efforts!

The day before our party,  I grew anxious as a kid does when anticipating Christmas Day.  To help settle myself, I grabbed my camera and headed to nearby Nygren Wetlands for an hour.  Being alone in nature has a way of emotionally centering me and mentally reorganizing my thoughts into a new perspective.  While at the wetlands, I watched and photographed a momma Mallard and her brood of six ducklings.

When I first spotted them, they were well out of range for a photo so I patiently waited for them as they slowly came nearer.  I'm not a patient person, but I'm learning to be one and I mentally chuckled at the irony of a guy waiting for over one half hour while holding a camera designed to shoot thirty frames per second and to instantaneously focus and track any variety of speedy subjects.  While designed for speed, my gear is a slave to nature's timing.  This is why my spouse and family continue to educate me in the value of waiting patiently for things to come to me.  Photography has helped me put this truth into practice.

As momma Mallard and her crew meandered nearer, her ducklings squirted in and out of the grasses exploring and splashing each other as if playing some variety of duck tag.  Momma casually paddled up the rear some distance behind her ducklings as if this was her time to enjoy some peace.  She seemed to enjoy leisurely eating snacks, but would occasionally abruptly stop and scan her surroundings and check for her rambunctious little quackers.  When they were directly in front of me,  momma gave some sort of secret signal that immediately gathered her little brood about her.  At that point, momma made an about turn and began swimming resolutely in the opposite direction with all her little fuzz balls falling into line as if they were a polished drill team.   

Still thinking about our celebration just hours away,  I thought about those 50 years of marriage and how we traveled together over those many years. I noticed the wake flowing in evering widening ripples behind this little duck family, and I thought about how our marriage was similar to what was unfolding before my eyes.  

How fortunate I have been to love and share a life with a woman who intuitively knows when it is her turn to swim at the point. There have been many times during our 50 years where one or the other of us found comfort swimming behind the other within their wake where life's waters were smoother and the path was clearly marked by the other.  

I am pleased when I see our adult married children also taking turns swimming at the point with their spouses.  It is comforting to know that we are welcome to join within their wake when we experience choppy waters.   

It is exciting to celebrate personal achievements like a 50th wedding anniversary because they mark important milestones in our lives.  These celebrations highlight the good choices made and the commitments made to one another for better or for worse over time.  They are made sweeter by reminding us of the love and graciousness offered by the many others who have permitted us to swim in their wakes when we needed support and direction along life's journey.