Still Blooming After 65 Years: From a Stoop to a Lifetime of Love

🩵 Happy “Blue Sapphire” Anniversary, Mom & Dad! 🩵

Joyce (Henderson) & Roger Bilderback - circa June 19, 1960! (And she can still fit into her dress!)

“Blue Sapphire” is the traditional name for the 65th wedding anniversary—and these two, Joyce and Roger Bilderback, embody what it means to be truly committed. Sixty-five years of marriage is such a rare and beautiful milestone, and somehow, they still look fabulous too!

Celebrating a Beautiful Day

On their actual anniversary, June 19, 2025, we took photos of Mom and Dad surrounded by some of their favorite flowers. Dad’s mother—my Grandma K.—had orange and red daylilies, and we made sure to include those. Mom also wanted photos with the blue and lavender coneflowers. Then we spotted the blue vervain, and of course we had to get a picture of her there too. And finally—my giant blue hydrangeas were in full bloom, and she loved them!

Just like a bride needs her own portraits on her wedding day, we made sure to capture Mom by the flowers she loved. After all, they were married around 2 or 2:30 PM that day in 1960—so I joked they still had a few more hours to go before it was super “official.” 😉

A Saturday Celebration

We celebrated in style at YaYa's Euro Bistro in Chesterfield the Saturday before. The General Manager even surprised my parents with a bottle of champagne—such a kind and unexpected touch! It was a lovely night filled with laughter, great stories of how they met and their wedding day, and delicious food shared with dear friends and family.

And of course we got a video of the champagne being poured (right) and our champagne toast (below)!

One of the stories Dad shared…

Dad: “What about that one?!”

He was pointing to my mom, who was unloading food from the farm outside her place in Quincy, IL. Dad was sitting on a stoop with some friends. One of them was dating my mom’s roommate at the time, and they were all trying to help Dad get a date that night too.

Friend’s reply: “Oh her? She won’t go out with YOU!”

But Dad, ever the charmer, wasn’t about to be discouraged. He asked her out, she said yes, they went to the movies—and the rest is history. 👩‍❤️‍👨🕊️💕

We celebrated with Mom’s cousin Dale and Diane Henderson, along with long-time family friends Neil & Jerri Cerrato. YaYa’s treated us again by bringing out surprise desserts—Mom had her very first crème brûlée (watch her lips in the video further below to see what she thought!) and Dad got his all-time favorite: bread pudding with vanilla ice cream. Safe to say, they were both pretty thrilled with the dessert situation.

A Sweet Bit of History

Before I was born, very early in their marriage, my parents went on a couple of trips—one to Montana and another that included Florida and Cuba. These were tied to my Dad’s work as a top-performing salesman and sales manager for Combined Insurance, working on 100% commission.

(You can read more about Dad in this blog post.)

As a little girl, I saw those old Montana photos and dreamed of going there myself someday—riding horses on a dude ranch. And now, in a beautiful full-circle moment, the day after their 65th anniversary, I’m heading to Montana. I love synchronicity like that.

The Symbolism of Blue Sapphire

Blue Sapphire is actually my favorite stone. It holds a six-pointed star—a hexagram—with deep spiritual meaning. Most people don’t even know that the 65th anniversary is called the Blue Sapphire Anniversary... because not many couples make it that far. I didn’t know either, until I looked it up!

It felt so fitting that Mom wanted her pictures taken next to all the blue flowers—because blue is the color of this anniversary. And fun fact: one of Mom’s first rings from early in their marriage was a pink sapphire—a lovely bit of foreshadowing for this incredible milestone.

Full Circle: Back to the Farm

To continue the celebration, they’re heading to the farm—the same farm where Mom was born and where, years later, she was unloading garden vegetables and home-canned goods when she met my Dad on the stoop outside her apartment in Quincy. Her apartment was on the third floor of an old historic home.

What a journey.

Here’s to More Milestones

So, Happy Anniversary to these two sweethearts! On Saturday night, Dad said his goal is to make it another 10 years—to their 75th. And if anyone can do it, these two can.

In the meantime, we’ll be celebrating every year as big as this one—because love like this deserves to be honored.

Love you, Mom and Dad! Congratulations!! ❤️💕🩷

P.S. I took lots of photos—because, I mean, it’s the 65th Anniversary!! 😁 And yes, I got some sweet shots of them opening their anniversary gifts too after dinner on Saturday.