[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 96 (Friday, July 17, 1998)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1338]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  IN HONOR OF THE 50TH WEDDING ANNIVERSARY OF MARILYN AND CHARLES COX

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. CHRISTOPHER COX

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                         Friday, July 17, 1998

  Mr. COX of California. Mr. Speaker, there are a few occasions more 
joyous and historic in a family's life than a 50th wedding anniversary. 
On August 18, 1948, my parents, Marilyn Ann Miller and Charles 
Christopher Cox, were wed in Mahtomedi, Minnesota. They received a 
papal blessing, and it was propitious: a half century later, their 
bonds of matrimony are stronger than ever.
  Fifty years of marriage have produced five Cox children: myself, 
identical twins Kathy and Anita, Terry, and Molly. And the Cox children 
have given our parents nearly 9 grandchildren (I say nearly, because my 
wife Rebecca is due in just over a month with our third child). They 
are Nick Hammer, Sean Hedgecock, Christina Ziton, Trevina Joseph, 
Charles Cox, Katie Cox, Alex Ziton, and Christopher Joseph. Along with 
the rest of our extended family, we will all join with our parents and 
grandparents on this memorable occasion to celebrate their golden 
anniversary.
  As each of us in Congress knows, leadership in all walks of life 
means, more than anything else, setting an example. For us, their 
children and grandchildren, my parents have been a marvelous example. 
We owe our values, our education, our caring and commitment for others, 
and our sense of honor, duty, patriotism, and social justice to the 
leadership in all of these things that they showed us. Their most 
fundamental lesson to us was the way they have, and continue to, lead 
their lives.
  At the close of the 20th century, men and women in their 70's, like 
my parents, can expect to live much longer than those of their parents' 
generation. What's more important, they can expect to be productive and 
to enjoy life far beyond what was possible even 20 years ago. This is 
what social scientists now call the ``second adulthood''--post-
retirement years that extend for decades or more. As a result, we 
``children'' are still counting on them to show us the way, even though 
their own parents' lives were necessarily very different. Well into 
adulthood, we're still learning, and still depending upon, our parents 
to help us lead our lives.
  Mark Twain once remarked that he spent $25 to research his family 
tree, and then he had to spend $50 to cover it up. Not so for the Cox 
family. We're proud to celebrate our parents' 50th wedding anniversary 
on the floor of the House of Representatives, and in the pages of the 
Congressional Record. After all, our parents are a national treasure--
and what better way to help them celebrate than to share the 
festivities with 250 million of their fellow taxpayers?
  I know every one of my colleagues--particularly those from Minnesota, 
where our family was raised, and where my parents still live; from 
California, where my father was raised, and those citizens I am proud 
to represent; and from Virginia, Colorado, and Indiana, where the rest 
of the Cox grandchildren live--join me in wishing Marilyn and Charles 
Cox a splendid 50th wedding anniversary, and many more to come.

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