If all of you will indulge me, I’d like to take a few moments of your time to express my astonishment and good fortune to be celebrating our 49th Wedding Anniversary today. To make it through the slings and arrows of modern life for almost 50 years relatively unscathed is unusual.

The story starts almost 50 years ago. I worked at the Prudential Regional Home Office in Minneapolis where about 2,000 employees work. A young woman caught my eye and I thought I sure would like to go out with her. However, she was the most popular woman in the building and according to my “investigations” she already had several boyfriends. I thought how in the world am I going to entice her to go on a date with me.

But my “investigations” also revealed that she was a recent College graduate in music. I thought since I was a pianist – that will be my entre to win her heart. So I spent time at my parents home, brushing up my piano skills. To try to really wow her, I composed a piece of music, “Rhapsody on a Mood”. It was full of passion and fire and I was quite proud of it.

So one day I caught her walking through the hallways and I stopped and told her I wrote a piece of music for you. Would she like to hear it? That definitely caught her interest and we walked to the Prudential Auditorium where they had a beautiful grand piano. I sat down and started to play and I gave it my all, the passion and tenderness came through the music. When I finished, I looked at her with anticipation while she walked over to me. At that point she gave me a critique of the music, pointing out where I could have reconstructed the main theme, maybe use a G minor chord here etc. All very good points and right on the button comments BUT – that is not why I played it for her. I was devastated since my plan to ask her out was derailed.

At that point I told her to sit down again and I played the entire Moonlight Sonata for her. When I finished, I gave her no chance for a critique but immediately asked if she would like to go out for dinner? She said yes and 6 months later we were married. That initial musical bond has been the glue that has kept us together. Even though I devoted myself in subsequent years to building my Prudential career, the musical theme ran through our entire marriage.

So it was that on April 26, 1969 as true children of the 60’s here was the wedding music we took our vows to: Today – Jefferson Airplane Every day of our marriage we have tried to live up to the lyrics “Today, everything you want, I swear will come true”. Needless to say, many in the audience were shocked at our choice of music as opposed to traditional wedding music – but Today was true to our love and intentions and even now we try to live up to the challenge of the lyrics.