October Sixth Marked Twenty Years

We were younger here- two Friends grinning by the falls with Annika and Mildred at our feet and Susannah curled within. We've grown older, and maybe a bit wiser, but that quiet spark in John's eye is the same, and my delight in him remains.

It doesn't seem possible that 20 years have passed since we walked out of the church, tired and happy and freshly married. A quick change later, and we loaded suitcases in the car, bound for who-knows-where. Who-knows-where ended up being a Park-N-Ride for the honeymoon night and spontaneous meanderings around Boston for the week, before we drove home to a tiny apartment on Main Street.

Some people go all out for a twenty-year anniversary, flying off to an exotic locale or spending a mint on something sparkly, but John did one better. He took a few days off of work and recreated some of those small and sweet moments from our Boston honeymoon, only this time we shared them with ten other people we love.

From candy to chicken parmesan to Key Lime pie to Phil's chicken to b.l.t.s, every meal made me smile, and while John served the food, I served up stories dense with memories.  It was a wonderful week with my best friend, plus ten more, besides.

One of the days, he drove us to a surprise destination, which turned out to be a bowling alley. I had been bowling two times in the previous 20 years, once on our honeymoon and once on my 29th birthday, so this sign made me laugh. Whatever the occasion, the bowling alley has you covered!

This was the first time most of the children had been in a bowling alley, and it was High Excitement and Thrills the entire time. Everyone bowled except for Ransom (and Mildred, who was lamentably at work). The children and I took these pictures on my phone, so, as always, apologies for the poor quality.

John was displeased with his performance, but I was ecstatic with mine! In my previous two times bowling, I didn't even break 100, and he blew me out of the water with superior skill. Do you want to know what my trick was this time? I bowled with my left hand instead of my right. I'm left-handed, but I'm also right-eye dominant and a bit of a doofus, so when John taught me proper bowling form on our honeymoon, I copied him exactly, even down to bowling right-handed.

And since me beating John in any kind of game will likely never happen again, I'm going to refrain from writing down all the sappy feelings this man engenders in me and simply post one final snapshot.

What a beautiful sight.