Joe & Janet’s 50th Wedding Anniversary!

My parents, Joe & Janet Tworkowski, were married 50 years ago today—August 10, 1973—in Halifax, Nova Scotia. They lived in New York, Florida, and North Carolina before moving back to Florida for good in 1985. My sister Jessica and I were both born in Morehead City, North Carolina, along with our bother Jesse, who was born and died 46 years ago last week. I’m 43. Jessica just turned 40. She’s married to Sean and they have two boys, Landon and Declan, the two biggest sources of joy in our family. Landon is 11 and Declan is 9. My sister Emily is 34 and living in Los Angeles. She’s home for the big day.

Joe & Janet didn’t want a party but I want to do something special to honor and celebrate them. My sisters and I are all products of their love. If I’m the founder of To Write Love on Her Arms, and Joe & Janet are the founders of me, then it’s safe to say that countless lives have been impacted and even saved, and it can all be traced back to the thing we’re celebrating today. Also my mom has been involved with TWLOHA since the beginning! She has been the organization’s full-time bookkeeper for close to 15 years now.

The hope is simply to create a moment and a place for people to give, in honor of Joe & Janet’s Golden Anniversary. They didn’t have any money 50 years ago. They don’t have much today. Both are still working. I like the idea of all of us coming together to do something special for them, to go beyond words in celebrating not only their love story but their lives.

Whether you can give a little or a lot, it all adds up. Maybe this will allow Joe & Janet to pay some bills, or fix up the house, or take a short road trip to St. Augustine or Fort Pierce. That’s up to them. I just want to show my parents how many people they’ve touched, and how many want to join in celebrating their 50 years of marriage.

Thank You so much.

Jamie Tworkowski