I Do!

On a hot as Hades summer day ten years ago, we said, "I do."

The ink had barely dried on our college diplomas, and neither of us had ever held a full-time job.  Our recent residences were college dorms, sketchy rental properties with roommates, and our parents' homes during the summer.  After Ben carried me over the threshold to our honeymoon suite, we decided to start our romantic evening by drinking Mike's Hard Lemonade.  I kid you not.

Yes, we were young, idealistic, and embarrassingly naïve about quality drinks.  But we were in love.

I smashed the cake first.  Just saying.

 

And we still are.   

 

 

Today we remember and reflect.  We remember our wedding: the darling old church with its two air-conditioning vents, our guests who crooned to us with their love songs, my parents doing the chicken dance, the photographer who nearly fainted from heat exhaustion, and the Chick-fil-a meal my parents surprised me with so that I didn't have to endure one bite of fancy food. 

 

 

We remember the previous nine anniversaries that we've celebrated. Some on the sandy, warm beaches of Florida and South Carolina.  Others accented with the historical charm of cities like Savannah and Charleston.  And others of a less magical variety where battles with morning sickness and moving trucks ruled the day.

 

 

 

We remember the years in between then and now.  Our one bedroom, one bath apartment that we lived in for four years--still the longest stretch we've ever lived in a place other than our childhood homes.  We remember the carefree newlywed days, the days of too quiet where we longed for chaos, and the days of late where we count down until 8pm, when the quiet slowly returns.



 

But we also reflect on the future.  We imagine where we'll be in the next 10, 20, or maybe even 50 years.  And if we ever are so blessed as to celebrate our 60th, we imagine that we'll gaze into each other's eyes over a bottle of Glenlivet scotch, and we'll have a conversation much like this:

 

Ben: Remember what we had for our 10th anniversary?

Lindsay: Yeah, we split a bottle of that Oak Creek wine.

Ben: Bah!  Like drinking fermented Kool-Aid! $2.87 a bottle.  Remember that?  What cheapskates we were.

Lindsay: We were frugal.  We were living on a teacher's income with three little ones.

Ben: Frugal my Depends-wearing old rear!  We could have at least sprung for the $6 bottle of Yellow Tail.  Boy, have we come a long way! 

 

So here's to memories, and here's to daydreams of what may be to come.  Cheers!