Celebrating Our 55th Wedding Anniversary

Posted: July 6, 2010 01:44:21 PM

On June 29th, Donna and I celebrated our 55th wedding anniversary. To mark this special occasion, we took our four children and their spouses and 13 of our 15 grandchildren on a cruise to Greece, the Dalmatian coast and southern Italy. Our nine days at sea ends in two more days and it’s been a wonderful experience.

We began in Athens, where everyone was able to see the Acropolis, and our first port was the charming Greek island of Zakynthos. Next, it was on to Corfu with its 2 million cypress trees, and a visit to two fantastic palaces, including a visit to Mon Repos palace, birthplace of Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, and the husband of Queen Elizabeth of England.

Our next port of call was the fortress city of Dubrovnik, Croatia. It was the first time any of us had been to the Balkans. What a wonderful place to begin our tour of the Balkan countries. The city is surrounded by fortress walls overlooking the Adriatic Sea. The old town is small with only 960 inhabitants. The streets are narrow and very charming with lots of shops and sidewalk cafes. There’s a lot of history here, too. It’s truly a spectacular ancient city.

We next visited the Romanic city of Kotor. To enter the harbor, it’s necessary to pass through a narrow strait of water where the mountains drop straight down to the sea with a fjord on each side of the strait. The mountains are very high and provide a splendid backdrop to this quaint town. The setting reminded us a lot of Lake Como in Italy.

After Kotor, we sailed south to Otranto, Italy, which is a port town located on the heel of the Italian boot. We visited the ancient city of Lecce, which reminded us of Florence. The cathedral is done in baroque architecture and is truly amazing.

This afternoon, we departed for Paxos, Greece, and then on to Athens and to home. We’ve had a wonderful time with our family and really look forward to our next celebration.

I’m Bill Marriott and thank you for helping me keep Marriott on the move.

Comments

Posted By: CLAIRE MACFARLANE (07/06/2010 at 02:28 PM)
Comment:

THANK YOU FOR SHARING A HAPPY FAMILY TIME AND CONGRATULATIONS!! WE MADE THIS TRIP MANY YEARS...JUST WE TWO... AND IT WAS DELIGHTFUL TO RELIVE IT.

Posted By: Jose Campo (07/06/2010 at 02:31 PM)
Comment:

I want to express my sincerest appreciation and thanks to Scott *********, Sales Manager, and the staff at the Salt Lake City Marriott, University Park. Scott and the staff were literarily life savers, or rather, wedding savers. My daughter had planned an outdoor wedding on June 12 of this year. Needless to say, not only did the weather fail to cooperate, but a chemical spill caused the closure of the park where the ceremony was to be held. Scott and the staff at the Marriott came to the rescue and went well beyond expectations by setting up a tent that allowed us to hold the ceremony at the Marriott's backyard. This was done with very little prior notice. To the say the least, Scott and the staff were great; the ceremony turned out great! Thank you a million for your care and assistance!!

Jose

Posted By: Frances Burton (07/06/2010 at 05:30 PM)
Comment:

Mr. Marriott congratulations on you all's 55th wedding anniversary. You know you guys are truly blessed; it seems as if nowadays hanging on up to ten years is hard for many. I applaud your love for family. Many blessings in the years to come!!!

Posted By: Jalaine Shombert (07/06/2010 at 05:42 PM)
Comment:

Dear Mr.& Mrs. Marriott,

Congratulations
on your anniversary,family is the most important gift from
God,I miss my kids more than
anything in the world.I'am going to visit them this week
and I can't wait.Bless you and your family,I'am happy for you and your wife.
Jalaine

Posted By: Cheryl Gaby (07/06/2010 at 05:43 PM)
Comment:

Congratulations to you and Donna on your 55th Wedding Anniversary! Many blessings to you and your family as you celebrate your very special occasion.:-D

Posted By: Brian (07/06/2010 at 06:05 PM)
Comment:

Mr. Marriott, congratulations on your 55th wedding anniversary! Family is the best way to celebrate this special event. God Bless all of you.

Posted By: Juliette Adams (07/06/2010 at 07:00 PM)
Comment:

Dear Mr. Marriott:

Thanks for the picture of a life in the “Golden Ages” which we all may strive for in our own unique way. You certainly have provoked many ideas from sharing. It is ironic that though single, from age 19, I began giving speeches at weddings. The backdrop of the speeches was a setting of a “Journey” with islands called successful and unsuccessful with great caution that both can look alike. It was more done from the perspective as to what empowers a society, and truly gives it a strong foundation. I was astonished by the congratulatory response I received mostly from seniors.
So you recaptured for me an experience from youth and a vision for the future. As we proceed to great spiritual heights, we truly become aware that we are only separated by thoughts from each other.
You certainly have illuminated one of Eleanor Roosevelt thoughts: “Great minds discuss ideas. Average minds events. Small minds people.

Thanks once again for the opportunity of sharing with you, as you keep MARRIOTT on the Move.

Posted By: Glen Barney (07/06/2010 at 07:08 PM)
Comment:

Mr. Marriott -

Thank you so much for sharing the stories of your journeys with us! It was wonderful to be able to read about, and share in, your experiences.

I wish you and your family a safe return home!

Posted By: fred cronk (07/06/2010 at 08:01 PM)
Comment:

Congratulations on your 55th, and may more, Thanks for sharing. Fred.

Posted By: Cheryl Nevenhoven (07/06/2010 at 08:49 PM)
Comment:

Congratulations to you and Donna! Celebrating in such historical places in Europe is a reminder of our own short histories even at 55 years of marriage! My husband and I will be celebrating our 29th wedding anniversary mid July at the Shelbourne Renaissance Hotel in Dublin, ireland! Our only regret is that our only child, an assistant front desk manager at the Minneapolis City Center Marriott, will be working and providing great service to Marriott guests.

Posted By: Mike & Kathleen (07/06/2010 at 09:19 PM)
Comment:

Congratulations Bill and Donna on your 55 th. Wedding Anniversary, here's to another 55 years of peace, joy, and happiness.

If we live 13 more years we'll be celebrating 55 also.

Posted By: Dale Frahm (07/07/2010 at 01:22 AM)
Comment:

Congratulations on your anniversary! On June 30th my parents celebrated their 59th anniversary. Next year, being their 60th, I'd like to do something special for them.

Posted By: Willie G. (07/07/2010 at 05:29 AM)
Comment:

I'm married for only 4 years and will be having my fifth wedding anniversary on January, still a very long way from your 55, but it's always refreshing to read about couples staying together for a really long time.

Kudos to you and your family, Mr. Marriott. :)

Posted By: Lyle and Dorothy Schiefer (07/07/2010 at 06:05 AM)
Comment:

Dear Mr. Marriott, we loved hearing about your cruise and your family. We are anticipating using our Marriott points toward this particular trip. We have used points before when we traveled to Spain and stayed at Marbella for 2 weeks with our exchange. We love you and all your Marriott privliges we never would have done without you. Sincerely, Lyle and Dorothy Schiefer

Posted By: Mike W (07/07/2010 at 06:32 AM)
Comment:

Congrats!

Posted By: Dawn (07/07/2010 at 07:09 AM)
Comment:

Thank you for sharing the wonderful celebration! Wow! Congratulations. I would love to do this trip next year after graduation.

Posted By: Chuck C (07/07/2010 at 08:56 AM)
Comment:

Mr. Marriott, I'm very glad to hear you took some well deserved time off. You must feel very blessed to have such a large family to say nothing of a wife of 55 years. What a great testament your life is to the values of your parents.

From, a friend and former Marriott employee.

Posted By: Aretha R Jones (07/07/2010 at 09:34 AM)
Comment:

I love that your family was there with you to celebrate your 55th wedding anniversary. While my weekend getaway was not nearly as extravagant as your cruise, I do want to say that my friends and I received stellar service from one of your very special employees. Alfred ****** (bellman) @ JW Marriott New Orleans. Hands down, this young man provided the best service and hospitality I have ever received at any property in all my years of corporate event planning. I don't know how long he has been at this location but I'm expecting big things and lots of movement up the corporate ladder. He encompasses the perfect mix of professionalism, personality and willingness to make sure that our stay was exceptional. Many people were in town for the Essence Music Festival this past weekend, and the hotel was jam packed, but I couldn't tell because everything I needed and requested was taken care of which such speed and friendliness I was blown away. I felt like the only customer in the hotel. So please let Alfred ****** know that he made our EMF weekend fantastic with the exceptional care he showed to the 5 of us. As a platinum member there is usually a little extra effort from the staff, but Alfred ****** went so over and beyond he deserves to be recognized for being such a wonderful ambassador and representative of you. I thank you and I really thank Mr. ******.

Posted By: Kevin (07/07/2010 at 11:00 AM)
Comment:

Happy Anniversary! I hope you and your family have a wonderful vacation.

Posted By: Noel Vera (07/07/2010 at 12:28 PM)
Comment:

Congratulations!!!

Posted By: sam wise (07/07/2010 at 01:43 PM)
Comment:

Dear Mr. Marriott,

I would like to pass on a story to you about your organization. about five years ago I retired from a job that required traveling almost every week of the year, but the one good thing about it was my company let me stay in Marriott hotels and Courtyard properties. For a lot of reasons staying in Marriott properties helped make my job easier and I met a lot of wonderful friends all over the country that worked at your properties. In 2005 I retired and after about two months I recieved a call from Marriott wanting to know if something was wrong...they asked if I had a problem with staying at there properties sense I had zero nights for the two months...I told them that I loved their properties and their awards program but I had retired and would be using my million plus points to stay at your different resorts every so often instead of my usual 20 nights a month working and traveling. I also told them that I would miss my Platinum status but I would not miss all the traveling I had done for twenty plus years. They thanked me and guess what arrived in the mail a few days later...a lifetime platinum card from Marriott...thank you for being such a fantastic organization...you all are the best...and a happy 55 to you and your wife...I hope you have many more years together.

Thanks again,
Sam Wise

Posted By: Mary & Paul Carbone (07/07/2010 at 03:04 PM)
Comment:

Wishing you all a blessed time together and many happy memories as you celebrate 55 years of marriage.

We are celebrating 35 years of marriage and 3 wonderful adult children on Aug. 23rd this year.

We are reminded of the uniqueness of couples who choose to work on their marriage and stay together as we watch two neighbors in the process of divorce.

Thanks for sticking together and sharing it with everyone!

Posted By: Hank Mancini (07/07/2010 at 06:13 PM)
Comment:

Congratulations on your 55th wedding anniversary! Our family is blessed that my mother and father celebrated their 65th anniversary this year!

Posted By: Tony Pamment (07/07/2010 at 08:34 PM)
Comment:

Congratulations on your Anniversary - quite the milestone!!! - it takes a lot of give and take to get that far - I know - I'm cathcing up to you!!

By the way, your Website seems to ignore a very large country to the North of the USA!!! - Not a word about Canada - nothing about its Marriott Hotels, and although I am a member of "the Club" - there is notihng about my Country to even try to do something!- THailand gets a mention - how about a neighbour??
Regards
Tony Pamment Rewards Member #*********

Posted By: Donna L. Kiikka (07/08/2010 at 07:22 AM)
Comment:

from another Donna. I was checking golf resorts not to go there but to find an interested developer for my property which borders two golf courses. I noticed that there were no Marriott golf resorts in NY. This property is just 1.5 miles from NY State thruway 90, exit 44. Ravenwood golf borders the west side of this 98,7 acres. An executive golf course to the east border and a creek is part of the east border. 77 acres is on a hill next to Ravenwood. I am selling to relocate closer to my children and I have four!
If any interest or questions e-mail me

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