Árdís - 01.01.1954, Síða 67

Ársrit Bandalags lúterskra kvenna
65
The Fiftieth Milestone
A tribute to Mrs. Thora Oliver of Selkirk delivered by MRS. S. OLAFSON
on the occasion of her Golden Wedding, October 15th, 1954.
Honored Guests and Friends:
It is a privilege to be chosen to pay tribute to our bride of fifty
years, a joy to be here to rejoice with.Mr. and Mrs. Oliver and their
family on this happy occasion. We notice how young the bridal
couple looks after their sojourn of fifty years: the silver threads in
their hair are missing. Thora keeps her girlish figure and girlish
laugh. I believe she still puts in her twelve to fifteen-hour day of
work and accomplishes without fluster or hurry what she sets out
to do.
I am not here to relate a history of the last fifty years. Most
of the people here present have known our honored guests longer
and more intimately than I have. Fifty years in any person’s life
are not passed without many joys and fond hopes being realized
and not without some sorrows and disappointments. That is the
way of life. What really matters is not the experiences a person
passes through, but how these are met. A woman that has lived
through two world wars and stayed at home with many young
children while her husband served in the first war where he partly
lost his health, has lived through the years of depression and seen
her youngest son serve in World War II—a woman who has brought
up a large family here in Selkirk and in the Framnes community
during these aforementioned years must be spent and tired. But
I know that today, as on other days, Mrs. Oliver realizes that she
has much to be thankful for and I am equally certain that her many
friends and co-workers have realized many a time that they have
much to thank her for. That deep appreciation do I express today
on their behalf. Her family also feel their great indebtedness to
her. She has never wavered along the path of duty whether it was
rough or smooth, and today she may well look back and behold a
day’s work well done. A family of fine honorable men and women
taking their place in life, while she and her good husband have
this lovely home, in which we have gathered today, where they
will spend their declining years.