Happily ever after…

It seems I find myself constantly reminded of how quickly our lives go by. Here we are poised at the start of another holiday season, with sale ads trying to tempt us with discounted prices on artificial Christmas trees. If my first half century is any indication, the next two months will breeze by at a breakneck pace. I do love those holidays. While we are on the subject of time going by, I find it unbelievable that it has been 20 years since the infamous “Blizzard of the Century,” when a large swath of Minnesota was beaten senseless with several feet of snow and high winds.
That also means that come Thursday, November 3rd, Kathy and I will be celebrating 20 years of wedded bliss. For those of you who were there with us, you know we were supposed to be celebrating that milestone on Wednesday, November 2nd.
The quick recap, hitting just the high points, went something like this:
Halloween was on a Thursday in 1991. I was still eight years from ending my career as a rock band bass guitarist/lead singer. I clocked out of my job that afternoon at Tyler Wholesale and it was raining in Tyler. I packed up my band equipment and headed for the American Legion in Windom to play for a dance. My plan was to be back later that night, and use my Friday off to help with our final wedding preparations, slated for Saturday, November 2^nd. It was three days later before law enforcement would let me out of Windom to come home and get married.
I was snowed in with band mates at the Johnson Motel, and Kathy with my family back in Tyler. Our groom’s supper was the first victim, it was cancelled early. As the snow continued to fall we cancelled the dance scheduled for Saturday evening, and it became evident as the hours went on, the wedding wasn’t going to happen either.
I finally made it back to town on Sunday morning, by way of Worthington, and we had wedding rehearsal as our guests were arriving for our postponed vows on Sunday afternoon. Our wedding trip to the Metrodome to watch the Vikings play Tampa Bay was history.
The biggest downside was the fact that the wedding had to go on without some of our family and friends who were still unable to make it to town. The upside, I guess, is we have quite a story to tell of that weekend two decades past. It was even documented on the front page of the Windom paper.
Here we are 20 years later, still blindly, crazy, madly…okay, well we still get along pretty well. We still connect with a palpable unspoken closeness at home after all these years…me from the desk of our home office and her from the bedroom where she is watching “Project Runway.”
I get emotional when I think of all the ways Kathy has made my life better.
For starters, I never have to make a major decision in our life, although sometimes I get to pretend I do. Young people can’t imagine what a stress reliever that can be!
My days aren’t bogged down by financial management. My paycheck gets deposited directly into “our” checking account, and I never see it again. I don’t even have to think about it…as a matter of fact, I’ve been asked NOT to think about it many times.
I’ve been freed of any temperature control responsibilities in my home. I don’t even have to think about where the thermostat IS in our home…and yes, you guessed it…I’ve been asked NOT to think about it many times.
Yes, ladies and gentlemen…it’s the married life for me. I highly recommend it.
Of course it is not just me who has lived a blissful existence. Kathy never has to worry about me botching a handyman project around the home…although I’m pretty sure we have some tools somewhere in the house. No Tim Allen-type issues for her.
I selflessly keep the DVD shelf stocked so she doesn’t need to even leave the house if she needs entertainment.
There is seldom a day goes by that we don’t have access to some sort of pizza.
I almost blush when I think about how she must go on about me when she is out with her friends.
Of course, the fact that we live in such an elevated state of happiness has its drawbacks. Time flies when you are having fun.
Before we know it the date will be November 3^rd, 2031 and we’ll be celebrating our 40^th wedding anniversary, spinning tales about our snowy wedding weekend.
And, of course, if I have my way, we’ll be celebrating with pizza and a movie.
Happy Anniversary Kathy! Here’s to setting sail on our next 20… How lucky are we?