We make a treat for our grandchildren that we used to make for our children. It is a treat that I can remember my folks making for me when I was a child. It is called “Ants on a log.” I’m pretty sure that the recipe for Ants on a Log appears in an old Girl Scout cookbook, but you don’t need a recipe to make the treat. Our version is simple: Spread peanut butter on a stalk of celery and press a row of raisins into the peanut butter. When our grandchildren make the treat, they like to use a lot of raisins. Of course, like all good recipes, there are variations. I’ve had the same treat made with cream cheese instead of peanut butter and it had the same name. My aunt once made the treat with currants instead of raisins and called it “Gnats on a log.” We also eat peanut butter and celery without the raisins. I think that is called “Ants on vacation.” Chocolate lovers can substitute chocolate chips for the raisins.

I’ve been thinking of ants on a log since we received the photo that appears at the top of this journal entry. It was taken by our friend Eva Bareis. I think it should be called “Aunts on a Log.”

Of course there are also uncles on the log. There are moms and dads on the log, as well as grandmas and grandpas. There are kids on the log and cousins on the log too. On Sunday, after our friends left from the open house we held to celebrate our 50th wedding anniversary, Eva took family portraits. We have some really lovely pictures of our family and individual family groups have pictures to remember the day. I’m sure that some of the pictures will end up in the display on the wall in our family room, including aunts on a log. The pictures invoke wonderful memories of a really fun day.

The celebration was held on the weekend to make it possible for everyone to gather. It was slightly premature as today is the actual day of our 50th wedding anniversary. We were married at Mayflower Congregational United Church of Christ on the evening of Friday, June 22, 1973. It was a fairly small wedding, an intimate gathering of family and friends. At the end of the ceremony those in attendance gathered in a circle as our pastor friends pronounced us married. Susan’s father made homemade ice cream for the reception. My siblings wrapped our car in black plastic and put a bow on the top. They went light on the decorations because the car had just come out of the body shop with new paint after some dents caused by accident when my brother was driving it were repaired. The words “just married” were carefully painted on the inside of the fuel door, which prompted a bit of teasing when we stopped for gas, which was generally pumped by attendants in those days. We didn’t leave for our honeymoon until the morning after our wedding and our honeymoon trip was just 60 miles to a cabin owned by Susan’s parents for two nights. I had to be at work early Tuesday morning, so the trip was a short one.

The glow of being the center of attention of our families and friends remained for a long time. We were very happy in our tiny efficiency apartment. Folding up our sofa bed each day so that our bedroom was transformed into our living room didn’t seem like a burden. Our repertoire of recipes was rather limited, so meals that summer were probably repetitive. It didn’t matter to us. I was working at a bakery, so we had a ready supply of bread and occasional pastries. The father of the manager of the building where we were living was a generous spirit who kept sending us food treats. We received cherries and other goodies from him on several occasions during our first year of life together.

By our first wedding anniversary we had moved out of our little apartment and were preparing to make the move to Chicago for graduate school. Moving to the city three days away was a huge adventure. The 55 mile per hour speed limit was a good match for our little car that was frequently over loaded and always under powered. We were in love, we were together, and had a lot of adventures ahead of us.

We are still in love. We are still together. And we still have a lot of adventures ahead of us.

All along the journey of the past half century we have been surrounded by loving family and friends. Aunts on a Log is another image in a long line of pictures of joyous occasions. Of course, over the years the characters in our photos have changed. Elders have come to the end of their lives, children have been born. Friends have moved to new communities and new friends have been made. There are six couples in that picture whose weddings took place after ours. We made it to five of those weddings. As the years go by there will be more new people added to our family pictures as family members form new relationships and invite new folk to join our crew.

One thing that is remarkable about the picture is that Emmy Lou is the only dog in this particular photo. There are other dogs who are loved by the folks in the photo. I’m fairly certain that had Cody been there, he would have been wet. All of that water would have been too much for him to resist. George would have had to be in the center of everything. Sitting at the end of the row just isn’t his style. If we included all of the animals, there could have been a guinea pig, some chickens, a couple of colonies of bees, a pair of cows, some barn cats, and more. As far as I know there weren’t any ants on the log, or if there were, they didn’t bother us as we sat.

This is our tribe. We love them all and know their stories. Still, it isn’t the whole picture. There are so many more whom we love. But the picture is a real treasure - one of the many gifts we have received on our 50-year journey. We’ll be enjoying it for years to come. Life has been good to us. And even the giant trees that wash up on the beach are not long enough for all of the aunts in our family. What a blessing!