Silver Anniversary

Today is our silver anniversary, 25 years of marriage! We have kind of a rolling celebration because that's how we...roll. And because our "church wedding" was on December 15 while our "legal" union was on December 16, with an Abraham Lincoln lookalike justice of the peace pronouncing us husband and wife in the courthouse of downtown Chicago. Our "church wedding" consisted of us walking into St. Gertrude's church in the middle of the day, where the janitor was busy vacuuming, to ask God, if available, and the statue of Joseph with toddler Jesus on his shoulder if it was OK with everybody if we got married. Evidently it was.

We celebrated last night with pink champagne! We watched the movie Mr. Nobody and talked about time, time loops, love, choices, quantum physics, and other stuff. And there's another bottle of champagne in the garage, because that's our wine cellar.

I am reading Committed, the funny sequel to Eat, Pray, Love, at exactly the right time! Of course I also wish I had read it earlier, but she hadn't written it yet when I needed it the most. By "she," I mean Elizabeth Gilbert, who was writing this book while waiting around to marry a man she'd sworn not to marry. He'd sworn, too. I've always loved how the book title evokes a nut house.

There are many things I could quote from this book, but I'm going to quote Gilbert quoting Eleanor Roosevelt, because I like Eleanor, and her marriage was an interesting one. Eleanor said, "All human beings have needs and temptations and stresses. Men and women who have lived together over long years get to know one another's failings; but they also come to know what is worthy of respect and admiration in those they live with and in themselves." Yep!

I did love Gilbert's list of her own worst traits. It makes me want to list my own! And share it, humorously and earnestly, with my mate of 25 years. We both have silver running through our hair. We respect and admire each other. We make each other laugh.