It's Thursday and every Thursday I try to post a list of 13 somethings. I like to keep it light because I think we've all had enough heavy to last us a while, and since hubs and I celebrated our 36th wedding anniversary on Tuesday I'm going with an anniversary theme here today.
1. We celebrated at home. It was 65 degrees and windy and we both said it felt more like October than June. We discussed all the rigamarole involved in dining out someplace but in the end decided there's no place like home. Good thing because we've surely spent a lot of time there this year.
2. There are some wonderful restaurants in the nearby small big city, but it's a bit of a drive and there's that whole pandemic thing which puts a damper on the mood, plus none of those spots offer a better view than our own backyard so home it was.
3. Hubs grilled a filet to perfection and we toasted to another year of married life with a glass or two of Schramsberg. Then we scooped everything up and ate inside because it was too cold and windy to dine al fresco. In June.
Crazy but crazy is the name of the game in 2020. Fun fact-Schramsberg is known as the White House champagne because it has been served in the White House by every President since Nixon.
4. Speaking of the White House, we spent our very first anniversary as husband and wife in Washington D.C. Hubs keeps this picture handy to show people when they want to see a picture of his wife.
They're not confused at all when they meet me in person. Ha!
Takeaway from Anniversary #1-you'll grow older, wiser, and grayer but three+ decades on you'll look at your spouse and still see the boy/girl you married.
5. We talked about some of our other anniversaries and a few stood out. We spent anniversary #5 dining in a fancy frou frou place in NYC. We were living in North Jersey and had a little bitty daughter at home. My parents drove up from South Jersey to babysit so we could have a fun night out in the Big Apple.
What hubs and I both remember about that particular anniversary is not so much the dinner, but more how we thought we were going to die in the cab ride to the restaurant. True story. The driver was an absolute maniac and I have never traveled that fast in a vehicle in the middle of any city as I did that night. But hey, we lived to tell the tale so there's that.
Takeaway from Anniversary #5-always wear your seatbelt.
6. We spent our 20th at an 8th grade graduation. Woohoo! Good times! Sixty students from approximately 15 different countries crying their eyes out as they bid farewell to friends leaving England for their home countries or other new adventures.
Takeaway from Anniversary #20-anything can be fun if you're with the one you love
7. Our 24th found us dining at the very elegant Cliveden House, enjoying every morsel of a meal that would make my list of top ten best meals I've ever eaten. Cliveden is where Meghan Markle spent the night before her wedding and it's dreamy. Remember Meghan Markle?
Takeaway from Anniversary #24-your shared experiences in far away places will cement you togther in a way very few things can for ever and ever amen.
8. Of course sometimes it's elegance and sometimes it's raw real life. The very next year we marked 25 years as man and wife in a lawyers office in Northern NJ, signing the 101 documents you need to sign to call a house your home.
We were mid-move, settling back stateside after a few years across the pond, and were living in a hotel while we waited on our belongings to cross the ocean and clear customs.
Takeaway from anniversary #25-there are a lot of mundane tasks and boring paperwork in the world of adulting. Also, memories are precious but new chapters are good too.
9. I do know over the course of our married life we've spent at least a couple in two different geographical locations. Anniversary #27 found me home alone in NJ while hubs partied it up in India.
Not really. He was working, but the hotel staff posed for some pics with the gorgeous flowers on display to help us mark the day.
Take away from #27-you don't have to be physically near to be close in heart.
10. I do know we spent #30 on a fun trip to Portugal. One of our most fun anniversaries ever filled with so many of our favorite things...dear friends, wonderful food and wine, travel, new cities, new places, adventure, and bling.
Takeaway from Anniversay #30-friends add to the richness of life.
11. So how did we top that in year #31? Back to raw real life, surrounded by boxes as we packed up the house from anniversary #25 and headed south.
Take away from Anniversary #31-life is full of change. Learn to embrace it.
12. And then five years flew by and here we are. Something like that. My point is, it really doesn't matter where we are or how we mark the day or even if we mark the day, although we always do. The calendar turns and what matters is we're still sitting side by each in the roller coaster cart of life, saying hold my hand...I'm glad it's you...I love you, forgive you, need you, like you, bug you, want you, am glad you're mine.
Take away from a long married life-those vows were not cliche. They paint a pretty accurate picture of what marriage will be...better and worse, richer and poorer, sickness and health...it's all of those things at one time or another so keep honoring the vows you made.
36 years and we still haven't figured out the selfie.
Anniversary 2020 feels like it should come with a Public Service Announcement-
Hey kids! Marry someone you love but also like, because someday you might find yourself in the middle of a global pandemic at home together for 98 days and counting and you're not even mad about it because you married someone you love and also like.
Happy Weekend Everyone!
