Nineteen Years

By Philip Molestina

About this time 19 years ago I was walking into the Buechel Woman's Club, the place my new wife and I had selected to celebrate our wedding reception.    

With our marriage only few hours old, we entered the place where family and freinds eagerly awaited our arrival. At the time I could never imagine all things that would transpire over the coming 19 years. As the melodies of “Achey Breaky Heart” , by Billy Ray Cyrus, was blasted across the reception hall little did I understand that the forthcoming  the years of marriage would bring to my wife and I, our own dose  of achey heart's. 

A strange thing at times it seems that marriage can be. Two people from completely different upbringings, would more than certainly butt heads one to many times.  Thus marriage for it to last becomes at times moments of give and take. Times of great experiences. Times of storms.

However in the end the glue that holds it all together is the certainty that the vows made to each other are forever.  What is sworn before God must be kept. Praying that at all times one or the other will rise up to recall that the promises made must be kept.

So it is than that 19 years later though others may see that my wife Norma and I are still married, the true legacy of what has transpired is being left for my children Andrea, Monica and Philip.

My personal prayer :  That the one sole example they should carry on onto their homes, is that marriage is forever.  May they erase from their minds any doubt that marriage is something you do until things become difficult.

Marriage today desperately has to be taught that it is forever.  Any other option undermines God's plan for the foundation that every society needs to be successful.

So to my beautiful wife Norma as we celebrate todays 19 years of marriage,  thank you for joining me in leaving a legacy that is greater than anything else we could ever do for our children and those close to us.

Happy Anniversary!

Te amo

Philip

August 29, 2011

1928

1928

by Philip Molestina



I was not surpised when I called my father this morning to wish him a happy 83rd birthday and discovered that he was up already, busy doing a number of things. My father many years ago refused the notion that a number of years would define what he could or couldn’t do.

He would cringe when told that he was afforded certain privileges like preferential seating because of the age bracket he had attained. A number people that have passed into their 8th decade of life would welcome some rest and relaxation but my dad simply does not see why that is necessary.



In his own way of looking at things there is always something that needs to be done. Not that he does not wind down and share a good nap and swim each week at the local Y. But with 7 children, 20 grandchildren and 2 great-grandchildren, it seems there is always something going on.

As some of my siblings, including myself approach and pass into our 50’s ,we have begun to live out our realization that the number of years that we have will not define us either. We have seen with our own eyes the example of a life lived to the fullest. A life that though it has seen many ups and downs, has come out on the other side at times perhaps bruised and scathed but the steady walk continues.

For those of us that ponder at times that we may have not accomplished much in life a simple thought comes to mind; those around us see and observe us at all times. A few years ago I read a high school paper that my nephew wrote about my dad. The paper had to do about his family and I recall clearly a few things he wrote.



My nephew as a young teenager wrote that from his family he learned the value of working hard, finishing school and getting a college education. The words where but a reflection of what my dad had sown into his children and was now being expressed by his grandchildren.

So dad, though we will still all keep on telling you to relax, to get down from the ladder, to close up the garage for the day - to simply just take it easy, we know it will fall on deaf ears. Your just “wired” to run all day and nothing will change that for now.



As long as it is up to you, you will be at upcoming ball games, graduations, baptisms. You will be fixing things at home and any home of your kids and grand kids. You will continue to pray &  worry about all of us from those over 50 to those not even a year old.

Some men leave behind, fortunes, estates, political careers and other forms of notoriety that the world admires. My dads legacy is simple; work hard, study, take hold of every daily opportunity that this country has, trust in God and keep on going.



Happy 83rd birthday dad and thanks for the example you have been to all that have gotten to know you. Your son, Philip.