The Power of a Promise

My air blown Spiderman Bouncer dear granddaughter, You've been on my mind ever since this ship left New York, and I know why. You're exactly the age I was--two months short of your twentieth birthday--when Papa John and I were married 50 years ago. But it's what happened onboard this morning that's brought me down to our stateroom to write to you. Today one of the events in the schedule caught our eye：11：00 A. M. ：Renewal of Marriage Vows；Archdeacon Robert Willing；The Yacht Club. It sounded like the very thing for a fiftieth－anniversary celebration. The couples would face each other and answer "I do"to the traditional promises. Of course, Kerlin, my mind went at once to the conversation you and I had at Christmastime. I was telling you we 'd chosen the Queen Elizabeth 2 for this trip because it was on her namesake, the Queen Elizabeth, en route to Europe in 1947, that Papa John and I first met. "We fell in love and were married in Switzerland just four months later, "I giant Inflatables said. And you said, "I might fall in love someday, Gran, but I'd never take a chance on marriage！"I understood that reaction, Kerlin, with partner－ships so fluid today. I remember your telling me rather wistfully, when you were in grade school, that all your friends there in Nashville had two Christmases--one with their mother, one with their father.