Fifty Y plus some days
Last month, a week before Christmas we celebrated our fiftieth wedding anniversary. It was considerably lower keyed than I had thought about the previous year at Number 49. But then each year has presented its own set of challenges.
I suppose it would be incumbent upon me to wax eloquent regarding the triumphs of such an accomplishment and offer sage advice to those with fewer years or facing the beginning of their relationship but the truth is, you just show up every day and deal with whatever problem is staring at you at the moment.
With all the social distancing it was hard to come up with something that felt celebratory—and in particular with nasty weather outside—reminiscent of the day before our wedding when the groom’s party was over an hour late to the rehearsal—and I wondered if I was going to be left at the altar—it was in prehistoric times of no cell phones—the drive was extremely foggy requiring slow progress. The next day, our wedding day, was bright and sunny but very cold—and husband to be washed his car, not realizing the washing process would freeze the door locks requiring him to crawl in through the back–while dressed in his tux.
We spent our honeymoon in a cabin in the Wisconsin North Woods—I got dumped into a snowbank from the back of a snow-mobile as the snow-mobiles don’t corner nearly as well as a motorcycle. We ate bean soup cooked on a wood-burning stove that heated the cabin.
So with such an auspicious beginning, it should not have come as a surprise to spend our fiftieth eating appetizers from the frozen food section of the local grocery store—shopping being limited to less than fifteen minutes door to door for me due to my high risk status and previous near encounter with a ventilator—and then later a trip to the beach for our ‘formal’ fiftieth portrait.
I had thought to wear my wedding dress, yes, it still fits—but not exactly appropriate beach attire. But then I’m not planning to wear it again–but maybe next year?
Should we aim for another fifty? or just settle for one day, one week, one month at a time? Probably far more practical and doable.
Sylvia Weir Art 