DEBBIE-DABBLE BLOG: 37 Years of Marriage Refelcted on a Gallery Wall

August 12th, 1978

37 years ago............

We were married...........

This is a long post filled with a lot of personal photos that I do not usually share on my blog so have a seat and grab a cup of coffee or tea..........

It was close to 90 degrees that day........

That was the day when I left the life that I once led as Debbie Kolojejchick and became Debbie Barna......

But our story started long before that......

Joe and I met as co workers at , of all things , a BINGO run by a neighborhood Hose Company of which my sister's husband was a member, in the Fall of 1974

I was a checker and Joe , who was employed by the guy who was paid to run the Bingo for the Hose Company , was a Caller.

I was 16 years old and a senior in High School.

Joe was almost 4 years older than I was, lived in Freeland which was an hour away from the town I lived in and was working as Supervisor in the Shipping Department of American Tobacco, which was a factory, located 20 minutes from where I lived.

I was already dating another guy from New York, who was a freshman at a local College that I met while participating in a Mock Government event for area High Schools.........

My first date with Joe was March 8th, 1975.

We went to Freeland, got a flat tire, I stayed in George's Gas Station with George watching Carol Burnett while Joe and his cousin changed the flat tire!

I was still dating the other guy from New York, which I broke up with shortly afterward.

I graduated High School, entered Nursing School and was engaged to Joe when I was 18 years old.

He was almost 22 years old.

We put a down payment on our Townhouse in December of 1977 and closed on our house in March of 1978.

I was a home owner at 20 years old, before we were even married.

I did not want to live anywhere close to my parents so the townhouse that we bought was located 25 minutes across the Susquehanna River from my parents and 40 minutes from Joe's parents.

Take my word for it, our townhouse did not look like this when we bought it shortly after it was built.

The original plan was that we would live here for 5 years and then build a house over on the other side of the river where I grew up.

37 years later, we are still here.

The best laid plans go astray.....

I am good with that and would never consider moving back to where I grew up because I am a firm believer in "What is meant to be, will be" and I am supposed to be here.......

In the past 37 years.......

My Dad, the first love of my life, passed away suddenly at 67 years old........

I had just turned 30 years old. I think of him every day of my life.......

My Mom sold the house that my Dad built and that I had lived in since I was 4 years old until I married, 3 months after he died.

It was the BEST thing that she ever did and she moved into a Senior Citizen Apartment Building in the same area.

She lived for 17 years without the love of her life and then finally at 84 years old, she joined him.

That was 11 years ago.

Okay, now back to My Gallery Wall as it is now the popular thing to call it in Blog Land.......

This wall has been a Gallery Wall for many years but I always called it my Wall of Fame!!

It represents 37 years of Marriage........

I apologize that some of the pictures are dark but this is a wall down the long narrow hall way that connects our Living Room with the Kitchen and has very little natural lighting......

Let's start closest to the Living Room.......

I divided the wall into 2 halves because we have 2 sons.......

This is Jim, our younger son's side...........

This side of the wall mainly showcases Jim.

I was 25 years old when Jim was born on December 7, 1983

One of Jim's High School Senior pictures......

This collage shares Santa and Easter Bunny photos......

Both of our sons did not really like Santa so these are my Screaming Meamie pictures!!!

I never got Joey to sit on Santa's lap without screaming but Jim did later when he was older.....

They both liked the Easter Bunny though!!

This is the original announcement that my parent's sent out after my Dad built our new home in a development called Knob Hill.........

It was the second house that my Dad built for my Mom.........

And the house that he would die in........

This was our beloved Savanna.....

Jim's Senior Picture Proofs......

Another Senior photo of Jim......

Joe and I at a concert in Ceasar's in Atlantic City.......

Look at Joe's dark hair!!!

Moving further down the Wall........

This was taken also at Ceasar's in Atlantic City when we took the boys to their first concert......

Joe had free comps to see The Moody Blues!!!

This was taken at my nephew John's Wedding ..........

Joey was in the Wedding Party.....

My Baby Boy.......

I wanted to be a young Mother because I was raised by older parents ( My parents would have been 96 years old this year) so our little Family was complete when I was 25 years old and Joe was 29 years old.

When taking these photos, I realized that I had not added one very important person , not only in Jim's life but in our life, to this Wall of Fame.......

So I replaced a photo of the boys taken at the Bloomsburg Fair with a more fitting photo......

Jim and our Daughter-in-Love, Danielle, who has been such a Blessing in our lives......

I do have to do a bit more updating in the future to do......

Both of our sons were in Cub Scouts and I was a Den Mother!!

Now we move to the middle of the Wall.....

Our Wedding picture......

And a picture taken for a Parish Photo Album at our church.......

This was the year of our 30th Wedding Anniversary......

Now moving down to Joey's side of the Wall.......

Joey was born when I was 23 years old on December 29, 1981

My Baby Boy....

This was taken while on vacation in Niagra Falls.......

More photos taken for that Parish Photo Album.......

Joe looks like he is running for Political Office in this photo!!

Further down the Wall.....

Joey's Senior Picture Proofs.....

A Family photo......

Joey's Senior Picture from High School.....

And his graduation from College.......

Another Senior Picture.....

Our Baby Boys taken at Day Care........

Our Engagement Picture......

Look at Joe's hair!!!

The Boys at Easter time with our sweet Cassie.......

And that is our Wall of Fame!!!

This hand painted picture was a gift from a fellow blogger memorializing our 2 precious fur babies that are waiting at the Rainbow Bridge for us......

So here we are 37 years later......

We have been through Richer and Poorer.....

Factory Lay Offs and Shut Downs and finally a more secure job for Joe as a Mail Man!!

And through Sickness and Health.......

Joe after surgery to remove 100's of warts on both feet.......

I went through 3 surgeries in 3 years including surgery to remove a cancerous tumor.......

And I remain Cancer free.......

But I have Knee Replacement Surgery in my future......

Our Boys have become self sufficient hard working, happy adults......

They have moved out on their own but right up the street in the Apartment Complex right next to our townhouse development.......

They come here to eat and celebrate every Holiday and as long as they still can and want to the doors are wide open for them!!

My Family is my Heart and Soul.....

Danielle, Jim, Joey and Joe.......taken on a trip last year to Washington, D.C.

Joey, Joe and Jim.......

Our little Family became 5 about 7 years ago.......

Jim and Danielle's story is a lot like ours.....

They met working together at Target and were friends first, but after they attended my niece's Wedding together, things changed....

They now live together in a townhouse and work the over night shift at Target.

Jim has worked there since Target first opened here in our area.

Jim and Joey

Joey is an IT Specialist for Web. Com and has his own apartment.......

Joey with fellow co- workers.....

Joe will be retiring soon......

As a Letter Carrier for the United States Post Office.......

He is still the "Joker" that I met 41 years ago!

And still loves his pizza!!

I have recently went Part Time after working full time for 37 years as a Staff Nurse in a Hospital......

32 of these years have been night shift.......

Yes, we have weathered many a storm..........

And I have embraced my age, deciding to Age Gracefully, and decided to go Gray!!

I am enjoying working Part Time and we are preparing for Joe's Retirement........

We will be celebrating our 37th Wedding Anniversary with a quiet Dinner at home, just Joe and I...

I am off but Joe is working so he will be picking up dinner from our favorite Italian Restaurant, Leggio's, on his way home from work.......

But we will do a bit more celebrating on Sunday when we celebrate Joe's 61st birthday, which is actually the 17th !!!!

Just our little Family of 5!!!

And that is just how we like it!!

Thanks so much for sitting through The Story of Our Lives!!!

If you do not have a blog, PLEASE give me some way to reply to your comment, maybe by including your email in your comment. If I can not find a way to reach you, I will reply on the post where you commented so please check back......

I hope you will come by and visit again!!

And thanks to those who took the time out of their busy day to spend a little bit of time with me!!

Hugs,
Debbie