The "A Toast Is In Order" Story

Preface:  My story today is one of love, committment and what can happen in your life if you start each day with a kiss …….

It was an ordinary day.  Trying to pick just the right photos to use for my story today which is about the anniversary of the couple that Carol and I have been traveling with for over 10 years as well as the couple who graduated with me in the same class from high school.  

Jerry and Sue during our recent visit to the Bahamas.

Jerry and Sue are old friends and traveling companions who have recently celebrated their 50th Wedding Anniver- sary.  I have known Jerry since grade school.  We lived about two blocks from each other, met when we were in Mrs. Good's first grade class at Brecht School and spent the next 12 years together as classmates and neighborhood friends.  Met at the bus stop in the morning on our way to junior and senior high school as well as sharing a few classes together.  As freshmen, we both joined the football team.  Jerry was the center for the team and I took his snaps at quarterback.  We both realized that football wasn't our passion and quit after the first year.  After I got my first car Jerry helped me rebuild the engine in his parent's garage.  He's been a good friend almost all my life.  Sue entered the picture when we were sophomores in high school and she moved into the district.  Sue and Jerry hit it off pretty well from the start.  They also shared classes together and Sue was responsible for helping Jerry pass most his classes.  The three of us  graduated from Manheim Township High School in Lancaster, PA together in June of 1962.  While still in high school, Jerry enlisted in the Navy and a few months after graduation headed to boot camp at Norfolk, VA.  Then on November 7th of 1963 Jerry and Sue were married at the Lutheran Church in Grandview Heights, a development in Manheim Township.  The next day Sue drove Jerry back to Norfolk and returned to Lancaster to live with Jerry's parents.  A week later Jerry boarded the USS Holder and sailed off into the Caribbean on a mission.  After Jerry left the Navy they lived in Lancaster where Sue worked at a variety of jobs and Jerry entered Millersville State Teachers College where I was just finishing up my classes and getting ready to take my first teaching job.  In no time we were teaching Industrial Arts together at our Alma mater and Sue returned to work in the cafeteria.  

Jerry, Sue, Carol and LDub during a trip to Antigua.

Jerry eventually was named Super-
intendent of Grounds for the school district and in 1999 we retired together from the same school district from where we graduated.  Jerry and Sue have two grown children, Tony and Tim. After retiring Sue and Jerry moved to State College, PA where Sue had spent time as a child.  I have known Jerry for over 60 years and added Sue as a friend in the late 50s.  Carol came along in the mid-60s when my dad and her mom set up a blind date for us and she joined the party.  In 1999, a week after retiring, the four of us traveled with two other friends and Sue's sister to Hawaii for a retirement trip.  Since that time the four of us have traveled to most of the islands in the Caribbean as well as making frequent trips back and forth from Lancaster to State College to visit with each other.  We have shared many memories and many, many laughs since we have started to travel together and quite a few of them have been documented in this blog.  So, here's to many more good memories and a truly Happy 50th Anniversary to two of our best friends!  May all reading this story make a toast to the bride and groom!!  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.