The Days of Wine and Roses

Yesterday was The Husband's and my 16th wedding anniversary.

We got married the summer before my senior year in college, for no other reason than we wanted to. As adults and parents, we look back and said, "Stupid kids." But we are glad we were, because we both have doubts whether we would have gotten married had we waited for both of us to graduate. Too flippy. Too young.

But we did marry, in a lovely ceremony in a lovely UU church. His stepmother lit the main taper. His stepfather, a Methodist minister, did the ceremony. We both walked down the aisle with both of our parents. I think my mother would have preferred the traditional way of just my father walking me down the aisle, but paaah. Even at that age, I had a feeling that it wasn't right for just my father to be giving me away. And at that age, it was definitely being given away.

We walked down the aisle to "Morning Has Broken." We left to "Here Comes the Sun," a song that grows in meaning for us each year. Especially this one.

Of course, our personally-written vows, while sweet, were written by a 21 and 22 year old. Something about loving each other and still being individuals.

Ah, the vows we could write NOW.

In any case, the marriage "took" and here we are now. It is common to decry young marriages, which makes The Husband and I just look at each other in wonder. We have been blessed, as we have grown up together and not grown apart. The idea of being who I am now and getting married to a person who also has his own way of doing things ... I can't imagine. We joke that you should get married by age 24 or not at all. (joke, joke!)

Yesterday was the perfect anniversary. I sent him a dozen rozes and a little teddy bear to his work, something I've never done before, but I wanted to do the gesture that a lover would. Not just a partner.

"I knew what I was going to get you two months ago," said he.

I opened the bag. It was a bottle of wine. Hmm?

"Is that all?" he asked.

There was also a slip in the bag notifying me that I was now a member of the Specs wine of the month club. (Really good, I highly recommend it for oenophiles.)

The last time he got that for me was Christmas a couple of years ago.

"I remembered that that was a VERY good year for us," he said. We briefly discussed all the great things that happened that year. "So, I decided we needed another year like that."

So, for today, we have wine and roses.

They are not long, the days of wine and roses:
Out of a misty dream
Our path emerges for a while, then closes
Within a dream.
--Ernest Dowson