
We were married in September 1960… between the dinosaurs and the Beatles. (According to our grandkids, that means we are really old.)
On the day of our wedding we believed that part of our job as a couple was to pray, encourage, nag and/or drag each other to heaven along with our children, family and anyone else in our lives.
We found that being married wasn’t easy. Outside influences, finances and health struggles, etc. took their toll. Sometimes we lost hope that we would make the long haul.
Along the way there have been some things that helped us stay on the true path. For instance, praying, worshiping together, setting aside time for sharing and discussing small and important things that come up have been beneficial in our growth. Retreats that we participated in have made a big impact for us. Marriage Encounter, Cursillo, Christ Renews His Parish, and many weekend and day retreats have helped us build our relationship. Being active in our parish and working with engaged couples preparing for their marriages have kept us on track in our own marriage.
We have found that when we keep Christ the center of our relationship, our love for each other bubbles up and overflows to our children, family, friends, and all those whose lives touch ours.
Don and I aren’t perfect … we still have differences of opinion and sometimes become discouraged. By keeping lines of communication open, we are able to work through those differences with discussion and prayer … and come out the other side closer to each other and more committed than ever. We heard one time that …”Some days we will wake up in the morning being committed to our marriage because of the wonderful person we married. Other mornings we will wake up committed to the marriage because we have a pretty good thing going. Other mornings we will be committed to our marriage because we said we would be. Still other mornings we just feel like we should be committed!”
We believe God has called us to be the best couple we can be. We promised, almost 57 years ago, that we would work on our relationship as long as we are both on earth.
We promised again last night that we will continue to build our relationship. Who knows how much we can grow!
AUTHORS: DON AND DONNA CONN
Don and Donna Conn both grew up in north Omaha. They relocated to Council Bluffs in 2006 to be near family. Don is retired from the U.S. Postal Service, while Donna is a secretary at St. Albert School. They cherish their 4 children, 11 grandchildren, and 8 great-grandchildren. They are active members at Corpus Christi Parish, involved in many things, including lectoring, Faith Formation, and FOCCUS marriage preparation for engaged couples.
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