Today is our Wedding Anniversary. I almost hesitate to say how many years we're celebrating because it seems like such a huge number and yet it really doesn't feel as if we've been married that long. Somehow, in having and raising a family, and moving countries, and studying and changing jobs, and dealing with sickness, and cheering from the sidelines as the children move out and start lives of their own, and welcoming the next generation, the time has flown and yet we don't feel a lot different than we did when we said I do thirty-six years ago. (Okay, maybe there are a few extra aches and pains - and kilos - but as long as we don't look in the mirror or do anything too strenuous, we can kid ourselves that we are still those young starry eyed newlyweds of long ago.)
DH and I were married in a small sandstone church that the men of the church had repainted only weeks before our wedding - many, apparently popping angina medication under their tongues so that they could complete the task. I think ours was the first wedding held in the church in a very long time - which perhaps explains their desire to see it spruced up. The pastor who married us had also married my parents - and also refused to let DH sign the register using his regular scrawl. That, plus the fact that our service was recorded and DH's responses cannot be heard have given DH unlimited opportunities to claim I married him but he never married me.
Which leads me to my confession. Part of our marriage vows was to forsake all others but I have to confess, right here and now, that over the years, I've fallen in love with a number of others. The latest contender for my heart doesn't have to do much to turn me to mush - just a smile will do it. And while he is a man of few words, and when he does speak, I often don't understand, I treasure each and every conversation.
Sadly, I'm not sure if he is as equally besotted with me as I am with him. (He only seems to have eyes for another - and closer to his age - woman in his life.)
But that's okay. I can't help but love him … and I don't think I'm the only one.
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