Sixty Minus One

Sixty is an impressive number. It has some heft; it sounds significant. Sixtieth birthdays are celebrated. The end of a sixty day probationary period on a new job brings a sigh of relief. A five-year car loan ends with payment number sixty.

Sixty minus one is just a number. Fifty-nine has no ring to it, it suggests no milestone reached. It’s simply a number signifying nothing more than a progression; 57, 58, 59, yawn.

So it’s going to be a quiet day today as my wife and I congratulate each other on fifty-nine years of marriage. No relatives are coming into town to celebrate. No special mention in the church bulletin. No picture in the newspaper. It’s not SIXTY YEARS! It’s only fifty-nine.

Bob & Marleen

In 1966, these two clueless (and skinny!) kids made a vow before a small group of people in a white church building, swearing before them and God to be together until death. Sounded easier then; much more difficult to live out. When you’re young and healthy and in love (and skinny!), the richer, poorer; sickness and health; and forsaking all others stuff sounds so remote. Yeah, sure. We can do that.

Bob & Marleen first trip to NY as married couple

Although we’ve never been rich (by American standards), we have never been in want either. And we’ve been mostly healthy, except for a heart attack, cancer, depression, and that COVID thing. The one who is sick suffers; the other one suffers the agony of watching their spouse suffer. We raised two daughters, and have three grandchildren. We have lived in this house for over fifty years. We have a good and godly church family; worship with them every week. We study, pray, and serve with them. We have fellowship at meals, at coffee time after worship, on the golf course, and in my wife’s sewing circle. 

Not going to do much today. I plan to buy three roses for my wife, one for her, one for me, and one for God. Each one essential to the survival of, to the thriving of, this union. Tonight I have choir practice, and tomorrow is evening bible study, so we’ll wait until Friday to have a home-prepared steak dinner and a glass of wine. We probably won’t talk much, but there’s lots to remember. Even if it’s only fifty-nine years.

Then the man said,

“This at last is bone of my bones

and flesh of my flesh;

she shall be called Woman,

because she was taken out of Man.”

Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. Genesis 2:23-24 (ESV) 

11 thoughts on “Sixty Minus One”

  7. Congratulations and Happy Anniversary, my friend and brother! Even though I am “only” 73, I look forward to the day we will meet around the throne of our wonderful Savior, Jesus, aka Yeshua, the Messiah.
    ❤️&🙏, c.a.

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  8. Congratulations on 59 years of marriage, Robert and Mrs. Frohlich! That milestone, though not 60, certainly is a testimony to other younger newly wedded couples of what can be if God and His Word are taken seriously and He is allowed to be the center of the marriage. Connie and I, too, look back now and see how green, inexperienced, and ignorant about life we were when we married. We began with nothing, never got rich by this world’s standard, but we sought to serve God and be faithful to Him, and He was always faithful to us, meeting our every need and even a few of our wants. If you slow down a little, we might catch up to you. We’ll hit 48 years this year if the Lord tarries His return! Praying you two have a wonderful day of quiet celebration.

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  11. Only fifty-nine? What a quiet, thunderous testament to love.
    Sometimes, the most extraordinary things don’t make headlines—they’re found in ordinary days, shared pain, silent prayers, and years stitched together with faith and grace.
    Three roses say more than a bouquet ever could.

    Happy 59, Bob & Marleen…

    Stay blessed!!!

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