Why The Number 23 Is So Significant To Me

My husband and I just celebrated our forty-first wedding anniversary. Wow! Forty-one years! How did that happen? Our golden anniversary is less than a decade away. We had a quiet celebration, a shared strawberry shortcake from a local produce stand, since we are leaving on a cruise in just a few days.

I’ve been reminiscing a lot this week, so I went back to this blog’s earliest days and included a story that was an integral part of my marriage. I hope you enjoy it.

The History of 23

Charlie Civility Cone Eason, Alberta Cora Eason Blanton, Mary Ann Blanton Edwards, and me, Kimberly Ann Edwards Wilbanks. My great-grandmother, grandmother, mother, and I have something in common. Each one of us was married at 23.

My great-grandmother was born September 28, 1885, in Eason Crossing, Georgia. She married Stephen Kennedy Eason in 1908. The first of five daughters was born on July 30, 1909, in Ochlocknee, Georgia. That would be my grandmother, Alberta Cora Eason.

My grandmother was four years older than my grandfather. On March 17, 1933, when she was 23, and he was 19, they crossed the Florida state line to marry in the Jefferson County Courthouse in Monticello, Florida. My Grandparents had 4 children, two sons and two daughters. My mother was their second child.

My mother was born on September 13, 1935, in Thomasville, Georgia. Her family moved to Florida when she was a child. She spent her childhood and adolescent years in Lakeland, Florida, and married Andrew Wardlaw Edwards, Jr. on August 29, 1959. She was 23.

I was born on December 5, 1960, in Lakeland, Florida, the firstborn child of my parents. I grew up in Lakeland, Florida. When I first noticed boys, my mother told me the story of “23”. She would tell me, “Your great-grandmother got married when she was 23, your grandmother got married when she was 23, and I got married when I was 23.” Throughout my years of preadolescence, teens, and into college, I heard the story. My mother never came right out and said that I couldn’t get married until I was 23, but it was implied. (If you knew my mother, you probably get this). In my rebellious young adult spirit, I said to myself (and probably to her too), “I may be 22 when I get married or 24 when I get married, but I will NOT be 23”!

Eating My Words

I began dating my then-future husband, Jim Wilbanks, the summer following my graduation from college in 1982. We dated for about a year and a half, and then, as fate would have it, he proposed to me on my 23rd birthday! Now I had a dilemma. Do I wait at least a full year to get married just to spite my mother, or do I give in and begin my married life at that preordained age? My husband and I got married on April 6, 1984, in Lakeland, Florida. You guessed it; I was 23!

Did the trend continue?

Our second child, a sweet baby girl, was born on June 26, 1991. She knows the “23” story. I have tried not to mention it too often, but she knows. My daughter is much more independent than I, so I would be surprised if the tradition continues. But, she did turn 23 on her last birthday, and she is in a serious relationship. I just wonder.

In case you’re wondering, my daughter, who will celebrate her tenth wedding anniversary this September, did not get married when she was 23, even though her husband would have gone along with the tradition. Nope, she waited until three months after her 23rd birthday to tie the knot.

Looking Back

It has been a good forty-one years; sometimes hard, but most of the time fun. We loved raising our two children and all that went with that — from Saturday soccer games to annual dance recitals. We enjoyed watching them develop into independent, remarkable adults. It has been a blast traveling the world together, even if it was simply to our favorite beach a couple of hours away. And now, our new favorite thing—being grandparents! We are smitten by this new role.

Would I change a thing about my marriage? Probably not. But if I could have looked into the future, I would have studied the calendar a little more to determine which date had the absolute fewest sporting events!