While we were digging through pictures and memories from our wedding fifty years ago , we stumbled upon a little yellow receipt from the Travelers Lodge in Marshall, MN. It is faded a little, but the carbon copy ink is light green and still quite legible! It said we had stayed in room 27 on August 2, 1968. The car that we registered was a Sixty-two Chevrolet, along with a license number. But the amazing thing about reading this again fifty years later was the price that we had paid! $ 11.33 Really? Could that be?
The other day we began talking about what we would do right on our anniversary. We had a wonderful time this past weekend celebrating with our children, grandchildren and extended family, a few days early. And we are going to take a little trip “up north” for a week, later in August when we take two of our granddaughters to camp. After thinking about the hotel in Marshall again, we decided we should just spend our “real” anniversary day up there and see if we could stay at the original place that we spent our wedding night.
We wondered…..Could we stay in our original room? Could we get a “deal” if we told our story about staying there 50 years ago? What if we told them the actual price we had paid? Crazy…but fun!
The phone call was made. Bruce, the manager, happened to answer the phone. I explained our situation, and what we were hoping to do. He laughed, but said he was honored that we wanted to come back and spend a night in Marshall in their hotel. “Let me think about what I can do”, he said. He returned to our conversation in just a minute, and said, “I can’t match $ 11.33, but I have two things to offer you.” One was a regular room with a king size bed. That would be $ 59.00. The other would be a suite with two double beds, a small living area, and a kitchenette. It usually is $100.00, but he said we could have it for the same rate of $ 59.00.
We decided to “go for it”, and take the suite. I am sure it will be a quiet and relaxing anniversary, and not too far from home. Maybe we will find a good movie to see, and have a nice dinner together. It does not seem possible that we have shared this marriage journey for fifty years. Wow, it has gone by so fast!
One of the cards we received brought us a chuckle. The title at the top said: An Anniversary Look at Dating VS Marriage
When You Were Dating
You always looked your best
Your manners were impeccable
You’d hide cute little notes for your partner to find
You’d regularly compliment your partner’s choice of clothing
YOU WOULD SAY, “I LOVE YOU”.
Now That You’re Married
You wear whatever’s clean
You burp at the dinner table
You tack a note on the door saying, “We’re all out of toilet paper”.
You regularly point out that the other has something in their teeth
YOU SAY, “I LOVE YOU”
Thank goodness, some things don’t change! The Bible tells us in I Corinthians 13:13 “ Now these three remain: faith, hope and love – but the greatest of these is love.”
lbeerman68@gmail.com
