My husband and I celebrated our 40th wedding anniversary in June 2022. I am extremely happy and proud that he has been my partner and best friend for 47 years and counting.

When we first started seeing each other in our late teens, my mother did not approve of my relationship with my then boyfriend. Thankfully she did over time.

I didn't have good being married role models growing up. My parents split up after 6 years (when I was 8). My mother and her second husband split up after 6 years as well. My mother married a third time when I was in college. My father never remarried.

Before my father died (I was 18 and he was 43) he told me he hoped I would marry someone Jewish, which I did. My father was Orthodox. My husband and I are Jewish but not religious. Had my father lived, I think he would have liked my husband.

40th Wedding Anniversary is mixed media on fabric and measures 32" x 32". The monoprinted and painted construction fence pattern is machine appliquéd on an embroidery I purchased on eBay.