My bride, Trish, known as my Sweetness, and I have just this past weekend celebrated our 39th Wedding Anniversary! “What do we do to make this a special event?” my Sweetness asked me? I said, “Well, it’s not our 30th…we’re past that and it’s not the milestone of the 40th, so lets do something unique like invite ourselves to the home of special friends we haven’t seen in quite some time!”
We asked to spend a special B&B weekend with Dr. Dave & Nancy Rummel…at THEIR home. How bold am I? Embarrassingly, Sweetness agreed, as did the Rummel’s. Due to their graciousness and long-time friendship, we truly enjoyed reminiscing our days as young folks, the mistakes we made “growing up”, how I look “pudgy” and Trish looks HOT, the joys of learning how to raise our kids, and what it’s like to be married to “macho men” like Dr. Dave and me (that’s a joke for Nancy & Trish).
Joking aside, recognizing milestones in our lives, regardless of what the reason, is important. Sweetness and I agreed that because we are “supporting” (read between the lines…we pay for) a family, fun get-a-way for our daughters and sons-in-law, we would not buy gifts for each other. However, I could not let this special milestone (39 years…according to dog calculators that would be 169 human years!) go unrecognized. 39 or 169, my Sweetness has been my singular joy! So, here is what I did for her:
Every day on the week leading up to our anniversary, I told her “I love you”…easy as I do this every day.
For four days prior to our July 12th anniversary, I sent her electronic love messages attached to music genres she loves.
Delivered her favorite breakfast in bed on the morning of July 12th.
Researched the Top 100 songs from 1974 (our wedding year) and created a special CD just for her…along with a love note. (Are you getting the love note thing?) It made the drive to the Rummel’s a lot of fun…remembering our years together.
On our drive to visit our friends, I spent most of the time telling her how remarkable she is as a person, lady, mom, friend, confidant, lover, wise counsel, and wife.
AND…I took the bold initiative to mark our car – just like young high school graduates do – for our drive to Columbus for our B&B weekend. You can’t imagine the gestures, smiles, frowns, and thumbs up we saw on I-71 going south. I hope you enjoy the photos.
Message: With all my foibles, miss-steps, mistakes and commitment to be a better man, my Sweetness and I have managed to navigate 39 years of marriage and probably 41 years of being together. Some will call me a jerk, some will declare me a weirdo, and some will find fault with my “sensitive side.” I, quite frankly at this stage of my life, don’t give a shit (oh, an offensive bad word!).What I am declaring…after all these years of being less than perfect, my wife has chosen me and I am ecstatic and, as such, I AM BRAGGING that I have her! I love Trish and I thank her.
Learn more about Dr. Ron at: http://www.drarndt.com/
