Thirty nine years

Now, and then. 

Thirty nine years ago today, we got dressed - me in a homemade pale pink double knit dress, and he put on his only suit, which was John Travolta style and baby blue, and we headed to the courthouse. Down in the basement we met the Justice of the Peace. He stood on one side of his desk, and we stood at the other, where he said words, we said words, and that was that. 

I don't remember many details, except these:

The walls were green.

The JP pushed stuff across his desk so we could take a photo.

Our friends John and Connie were there to 'stand up' for us.

We both had a LOT of hair.

It was one of the four happiest days of my entire life. (We have three children.)

Thirty nine years is enough to have some bumps in the road, to do a lot of living. We've had times when we both weren't at our best, when one of us carried the relationship for the other. We've stressed over money, job security, raising kids, we've said goodbye to our parents together. We've given our children away to people, knowing they wouldn't go to the dentist for a few years or have health insurance for awhile.

We've navigated ten years of retirement. That's a lot of 24/7.

We've grown to truly be the very best of friends, we are each other's favorite person on the planet.

Next year we have plans to go on a Mediterranean cruise, as neither of us has ever been to Europe. But this year,  like everyone else in Shelter in Place, we're keeping it a bit more simple.

I'm taking him today on a secret destination, to eat a secret food*. Then we're coming back home to have wine-thirty on our patio, as we have for a good twenty five of those years, then he'll grill steaks, I'll make baked potatoes and we'll watch some reality TV or Netflix.

After thirty nine years I would do it all again. All the ups, downs, arguments, challenges, and I know he would say the same.

To be able to say that, there's not much else we need in this world.

*I'd tell you where we're going but he reads my blog, and he's been asking for days. No reveal here.