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player ready...Editor’s Note: Hundreds of Ann Landers’ loyal readers have requested that newspapers continue to publish her columns of the past 47 years. These letters originally appeared in 1998.
Dear Ann Landers: Last weekend, we celebrated my parents’ 50th wedding anniversary. This morning, they left on a long-awaited trip to Hawaii. They were as excited as if it were their honeymoon.
When my parents married, they had only enough money for a three-day trip 50 miles from home. They made a pact that each time they made love, they would put a dollar in a special metal box and save it for a honeymoon in Hawaii for their 50th anniversary.
Dad was a policeman, and Mom was a schoolteacher. They lived in a modest house and did all their own repairs. Raising five children was a challenge, and sometimes, money was short, but no matter what emergency came up, Dad would not let Mom take any money out of the “Hawaii account.” As the account grew, they put it in a savings account and then bought CDs.
My parents were always very much in love. I can remember Dad coming home and telling Mom, “I have a dollar in my pocket,” and she would smile at him and reply, “I know how to spend it.”
When each of us children married, Mom and Dad gave us a small metal box and told us their secret, which we found enchanting. All five of us are now saving for our dream honeymoons. Mom and Dad never told us how much money they had managed to save, but it must have been considerable because when they cashed in those CDs, they had enough for airfare to Hawaii plus hotel accommodations for 10 days and plenty of spending money.
As they told us goodbye before leaving, Dad winked and said, “Tonight, we are starting an account for Cancun. That should only take 25 years.”
— Loving Daughter in Abilene, Texas
Dear Loving Daughter: I don’t know when I have read a more heartwarming story. Your parents were marvelous role models for their five children. Please give them my warm, good wishes on their 50th, and ask them to drop me a postcard from Hawaii. It is truly one of the most romantic garden spots in all the world.
Dear Ann Landers: This is for parents who plan parties for their children and do not intend to invite the entire class. Please tell them to have the decency to put the invitations in the mail instead of passing them out in school. The cost per stamp is nothing compared to the cost of hurting someone’s feelings.
— Spencerport, N.Y.
Dear Spencerport: Thanks for preventing a lot of heartache. You’ve done something generous and wonderful by writing to me. Thank you.
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To find out more about Ann Landers and read her past columns, visit the Creators Syndicate Web page at www.creators.com.