"I knew that marrying Bill would be like hitching a ride on a comet. Was I brave enough to take the leap? He thought that marrying me would be like planting an oak. It would root him and give him strength and resilience. He was certain it was the right choice....Was it so strange to share each other’s passions and fuel each other’s aspirations? I’ve always thought “love” was a verb as well as a noun, and that’s proven true for us. Bill has been my greatest champion since the moment we met. He never once asked me to put my career on hold for his. He never resented that I made more money than him or that my work and independence (keeping the name Rodham, for example) sometimes caused him political problems. He never once suggested that I bow to the critics and trim my sails. He always dared me to dream bigger. From the beginning, we’ve been in it together.
I’ve always loved Bill’s hands. He has narrow wrists and tapered fingers. For half a century they’ve closed comfortably around my smaller hand. Sometimes now, when he’s tired, his hand has a slight tremor. The doctors say it’s just normal aging, nothing to worry about. One more little legacy of a long life well lived. I still think he’s the most handsome man in every room. We recently both got dressed up to attend a formal state dinner at the White House honoring the Japanese prime minister, with a musical performance by Paul Simon. Bill looked stunning in his tuxedo, every inch the debonair former leader of the free world. As we entered the White House through the East Colonnade, filled with cherry blossoms and enormous Japanese fans, Bill grinned and pointed to the portrait hanging on the wall. It was me, painted by Simmie Knox in 2002. How young I was then! What a strange, magical life we’ve lived together, I thought. Bill squeezed my hand, and we went into the party."
--Hillary Rodham Clinton, Something Lost, Somthing Gained.
"Then Hillary gave a really upbeat speech about how she wanted to make things better for Americans. She looked great all dressed in white, in honor of the women who crusaded to give women the vote almost a hundred years earlier. And she talked about what she wanted to do in clear, strong, compelling language. The person people learned about from seeing her and others who knew her and had served with her was very different from the relentless ridicule she’d been through. She was the happy warrior with whom I’d shared more than half my life.
In spite of Covid’s terrible toll, it was a blessing for Hillary and me in some ways. I loved having our family so close. It was such a kick to have then six-year-old Charlotte and four-year-old Aidan barge into the house and insist that Hillary and I stop whatever we were doing and play their favorite games, read books, or be characters in the plays they created. Seven-month-old Jasper happily observed the chaos.....Hillary and I finally got into the streaming craze,spending Valentine’s Day 2021 binge-watching Bridgerton all night long."
Happy anniversary to Bill and Hillary Clinton. Today they celebrate their 50th wedding anniverary!
