Celebrating milestones

And they said it wouldn’t last.

Debbie and I celebrated our 30th anniversary on St. Patrick’s Day this past Monday.

It’s one of several milestones we’ll celebrate this year.

The second will be on Debbie’s birthday, May 19, when she will turn 56. (Don’t tell her I let it slip, but since she proofs everything I write before it’s printed you’ll know she’s okay with it if this makes it in the paper.) While turning 56 isn’t necessarily a milestone on its own, the fact that she is just about four years younger than my twin sister means my twin will be hitting 60 when August 21 rolls around.

My how time flies.

It’s seems like just yesterday I boarded a cruise ship and a beautiful young woman caught my eye. It wasn’t exactly love at first sight, but pretty darn close. We did date for four years before finally tying the knot, but that doesn’t mean I wasn’t in love with her all that time. I knew I wanted her as my bride. It just took me a little longer than most to get up the courage to pop the question.

Somewhere during our marriage, I think it was just a year or two ago, we became the proud parents of two sons. Preston just turned 23 about ten days ago and Robert turns 26 in July.

And suddenly we’ve been married 30 years.

So we celebrated like most couples probably do who have been married that long. First, we decided to celebrate a couple days early. Mondays are long days at work and with my 9 p.m. bedtime, going out to dinner or doing anything extravagant was out of the question. When we say we are going out on the town, that usually means starting in mid afternoon so we can hit the senior citizen rush for an early dinner, leave as younger people are just arriving, and still be home in time to fall asleep in front of the boob tube before the 10 p.m. newscast.

After spending a few hours at work on Saturday, I went home to put new trays in our dishwasher, one of many honey-dos on my growing list. Not being real mechanically inclined, the project actually carried over until Sunday morning, but I was successful and it made Debbie happy.

After cutting the project short on Saturday, we gathered up our coupons for dinner discounts and for some freebies for Debbie at a clothing store. (I wish we lived on a fixed income, but ours has been broken for a long time.)

Celebrating milestones doesn’t have to be all flashy, with rainbows overhead and fireworks lighting the night sky. I already see those things every day, each time I see my bride’s smiling face.

(P.S. Happy birthday in August to my twin sister, too. Be sure to let me know what it’s like being 60. Someday I might join you.)

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