50th [moment]

[moment 50]

Over the past fifty years, my parents, Gene and Sandy Talbot, have shared many moments together. Today marks their 50th anniversary. 

My parents got married on Saturday, February 19th, 1972 during a snowstorm. 

By their first anniversary, they had welcomed their first child into the world and lived on Bridge Street in Naugatuck.

Shortly after their second anniversary, they would discover that their second child was on the way. 

They celebrated their third anniversary as a family of four living in a three family house on Clark St. in Ansonia, CT. 

By their fourth anniversary, their children were making wonderful memories of time spent playing Row Row Row Your Boat in a baby bathtub and with Tina DelMonaco, who lived upstairs, in her garden collecting tomatoes for her pasta sauce or eating her freshly made pizzelles. 

Shortly before their fifth anniversary was the blizzard of '78, during which Gene tossed his youngest child on top of the snow on the sidewalk and she promptly disappeared. I was fine and thought it was great. Dad may have panicked a bit. 

By their sixth anniversary, we lived on Quinn St. in Naugatuck and Jennifer (my older sister) was attending Western Elementary School. We went to St. Francis Roman Catholic Church, and had dinner at my grandparents' house nearly every Sunday. 

By their seventh anniversary, I was in nursery school at the top of the hill and gotten used to the fact that my mom did things without me while I was there.

Their eighth anniversary through twentieth anniversary saw my sister and I through our primary schooling and my parents through the many things they were involved in from my mom being a "library lady" reading books to elementary school kids to both my parents being involved in the Naugatuck High School Band Parents Association and everything in between. 

The next several anniversaries saw Jen's graduation from college, my dropping out of college for mental health reasons, and both Jen and I getting engaged and married. 

By their twenty-fifth anniversary, Jen was pregnant with grandchild number one (between the two of us). 

By their thirtieth, grandchild number five was on their way. 

By their thirty-fifth, seven grandchildren were running around the Talbot house on a regular basis and both my parents had attended the homebirths of the youngest two. 

We threw them a party for their fortieth anniversary I think both my parents were retired by this point, but I can't be sure because they seemed to be more active and busy than ever between church and Calumet and grandchildren and cruises and I think Dad retired multiple times before it stuck.

Now they've reached the huge milestone of fifty years of marriage. Today we will celebrate, not with the huge party we'd all envisioned, but with a more intimate gathering due to covid-19. Perhaps his summer we'll figure out how to have a larger celebration, but for now, we'll keep it simple. 

Happy 50th, Mom and Dad!