Forty years on ..... by Eileen Padmore
Last month we took ourselves off to a remote stretch of Northumbrian coastline to mark our fortieth wedding anniversary. Cosied up in a little stone cottage perched on the cliff edge – with sea views from every window and overlooking its own beach – we wallowed in the memories. A tad unsociable? The thing is, there are so many happy, hilarious, poignant, sad (even devastating) moments special to us that would send others into glazed boredom. First, we waded through a minefield of cliches like: 'Where has the time gone?' 'It only feels like yesterday.' 'How can we be forty years older when we haven't changed a bit (inside)?' We have changed a lot, of course, by stealth. A comparison of photos then and now blows apart any illusion that we haven't aged as much as our peers. So what does the Bible say about forty years? According to an online search, it signifies a time of 'testing, trial and probation'. Well that's not wrong! ...