Last week was the 25^th wedding anniversary of Lynn, who blogs at After The Dust Settles. This is the post she wrote the day before. Does it hit you the same way it hit me? Her longing for her husband to mark in some, any, memorable way the day that they married is palpable. It’s sad—and yet…read on, because the next post is what she wrote on the actual anniversary day.

Just Another Day

Tomorrow is our 25th anniversary. I guess I should feel more excited, but it will be like any/every other day. We can’t go out because there are other things going on that we have to take care of. Hubby says this weekend, but that won’t happen either. Fridays he goes into work early to get overtime. So he is in bed by 9pm. Saturday he works, and then comes home and sleeps to make up for Friday’s lack of sleep. Sunday he sleeps all day just because he can (his words) and I’ll end up being annoyed because I work every stinkin day of the week. Whether I am tired or not.

And so, I am not holding my breath for any surprises. Maybe I’ll get some flowers. Maybe some chocolate. More than likely, a card with an IOU. And then he’ll ask me what I want to do, where do I want to go when we finally do get out. Which may sound nice, but Hubby has NEVER planned a date in his whole life. If I don’t say where to go, we go no where. I wish for once he would just call me and say we are going out, dress nice and be ready to go when I get home. I think I would like that more than anything. Knowing that he made an effort and is going to surprise me. Now that would be cool.

But after 25 years, I know that’s not going to happen. I suppose when he asks me again, I’ll just pick a day and a restaurant and that’s what we’ll do. There’s some good restaurants out here, and I won’t have to cook. And there is this chocolate cake cheesecake dessert that is to die for. And so today while I am out running errands, I have to remember to find a card to give to him. One that isn’t too mushy, cause we are past that mushy part of our marriage. At least I am.

Maybe instead of looking at our anniversary as just another day, I should look at every day like our anniversary….well, if we celebrated it in any special way. And if it was something I actually looked forward to. Not that I don’t look forward to it, but it WILL be just another day. If it’s not, I’ll write a post to let you know : )

Seems Like Forever

Today is our 25th anniversary. Thanks to Jan at Jan’s Sushi Bar for the nice post. I thought I would tell yinz (pittsburghese for y’all) a little about about me and Hubby and how we met.

We met on a blind date. Yes, we really did. I worked with his sister at Friendly Restaurant and he was just home from 2 years in the Army and wanted a date. So she fixed us up. Any time there is a problem, I blame her : )

Turns out we grew up about 1 mile from each other. But we were in rival school districts. We played at the same lake down the road when we were young, but at different ends. We even went to the same church, but to different masses. For 20 years, 1 mile away from each other, we never met.

Our first date, a blind date, we went to the drive in. Yes, we really went to the drive in. There were still a few around way back when. We saw Raiders of the Lost Ark. We talked through the entire first movie….good thing it was the second time for seeing it for both of us. I am not a generally talkative person, so talking for 1 1/2 hours for me, is HUGE. I guess we just clicked….

I have no clue what the second movie was(wink, wink). But through that second movie, all we did was kiss. That was something that really impressed me….he didn’t try ANYTHING else. There was no pressure. Just talking and making out. Nothing past kissing. It was a nice change from my past dates.

And so we became inseparable. Well, except when we were working. We had our ups and downs, but mostly were madly in love. We met in July and the following May we were married. Yes, just 10 months later. Back in ’83, weddings weren’t the big, huge, expensive productions they are nowadays. You could plan a nice family wedding in a short amount of time. I was 20 going on 21, and he was 22.

We married young. Not sure how we made it this far or this long. Sometimes I look back and it seems like forEVer. I guess now, I have been married to him longer than I haven’t been. I got married when my mom was 40. I can’t imagine handling your child’s wedding at that age. But I have a hard time believing I am over 40 : ) Where does time go?

I wanted to post some pictures, but I can’t find the collage I made when we were dating just a couple months. I have no idea where that is. I thought I would scan a couple wedding photos in, but I can’t find the wedding album either : ( Sheesh, I guess they are probably stored in the same place. If I remember where that is, I will add some photos. Now I am off to see what the hours are of the J-Barn Restaurant down the road and to see if we need reservations for dinner tonight : )

I read this and felt a whole lot better about Lynn and her Hubby. Not because she was off to make reservations at J-Barn Restaurant (they didn’t go in the end), but because in this post is the entire trajectory of their relationship. Blind date, fell madly in love, married young, were inseparable, had kids, made a life, misplaced the wedding album—but not the relationship. And her sadness the day before? Maybe it’s just the sadness of time passing and all that that means.

What do you think? What are your anniversaries like? Mine never meant very much to me, but my sister would die if hers wasn’t celebrated as at least a three-day event. How important is the pomp and circumstance to you?