Monday, June 16, 2008

Marital Status: Bliss!

Gene & Elinor Gagliardi display an Anniversary Greeting
from the President and the First Lady,
given in honor of their fifty-first anniversary.

Over fifty years ago, my parents Gene and Elinor Gagliardi met at the University of Illinois, Champagne-Urbana. They graduated on June 15, 1957, got married on June 16, and drove for the next four days across the country so that my father could accept his naval comission on the USS Hancock. Fifty-one years and five children later, they are still going strong.

Because I knew I would be out of town on their anniversary (I'm in San Diego for the CASAS Institute), I wanted to do something special for their anniversary. The White House sends special anniversary greetings to couples who have celebrated over fifty years of marriage. My father particularly admires George W. Bush, so I thought he would apppreciate this present. The White House also sends greetings for the birth of new babies, birthday greetings to people over eighty years old, and weddings greetings. See White House Greetings for further info.

It is also interesting to note that today, same-sex couples can legally get married in the State of California.

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