June 5, 2014

Happy 49th Anniversary to Us!

June 5, 2014

Ron and I were married June 5, 1965!  I know I say this a lot, but, "Where have the years gone?"  This evening after work I asked Ron how many of our anniversaries he remembers.  He said, "This one?"  He was driving so I didn't punch him.  Actually, I had been thinking about past anniversaries some today.  How many do I specifically remember? 

I remember our 25th.  I had baked and decorated a tiered cake and used the topper from our wedding cake.  We had several friends and family join us for cake and punch that evening.  It was fun.  Funny, I just spotted in the right hand corner of the photo, our bird, Charlie.  Charlie now lives with our son Stephen.  This proves that Charlie is at least 24 years old.

Back to our anniversary.  I remember our 20th.  We were heading into Jackson Hole, WY and had stopped to play in the snow.  We had improvised a sled to use on the slopes by the side of the road.  Of course the snow was old and had long before that, turned to ice - slick ice.  Ron and the kids made a few trips down the hill and I said I wouldn't do it.  They were having so much fun, I decided to try it.  I ended up with a broken tail bone and severe pain!  So part of my anniversary was spent in the ER of the St. John's Hospital in Jackson Hole, WY.   I have the t-shirt from that hospital visit.

One of the earlier anniversaries was spent in Yellowstone National Park.  In fact, several may have been spent there.  That is our favorite vacation location and we often left the day school was out and headed there to be able to still play in some snow in the mountains in early June.  One year for our anniversary, Ron gave me a large picture of Yellowstone Falls which hung in our living room for many years.

This is just part of the group two years ago in San Antonio.

In more recent years, our family has gathered to celebrate our anniversary and have a family reunion on Memorial Day weekend.  That weekend is usually about a week before our anniversary, but is a good time to get away for most of the family.  On our 40th, our daughter-in-law Barbara found a house in Wimberly for us to rent for a long weekend.  It was wonderful and she did an excellent job of planning.  She was put in charge of the next one for our 45th.  That was on a ranch we rented southeast of San Antonio.  That year the wildflowers were still blooming and it was an outstanding place for our gathering.  Everyone decided 5 years was not often enough so for our 47th we all met in San Antonio at a hotel for the long weekend.  This year for the 49th instead of Memorial Day, we  are getting together the middle of July near Lake Travis in the Austin area.  The place has adorable, unique cabins and we have reserved four of them to house the 20 of us for four days.  What better way to celebrate our love than to be surrounded by our loving and lovely family?

As for today's anniversary, does Ron bringing me a box of Shipley Donuts in bed to wake me up this morning count as Breakfast in Bed?  No, I didn't eat them in bed.  Then he had some jewelry for me and has promised me a ring from my wish list when we go to Houston in a few days.  We both worked all day and then after work we went to Harlingen this evening for dinner at Olive Garden.

We made one shopping stop in Harlingen before we came home.  When we got to Olive Garden, the hostess seated us right on a main pathway through the restaurant.  I quickly realized it was way too noisy for me to be able to hear.  Ron was sitting beside me instead of across from me and I was having to ask him to repeat.  We asked our waiter if we could have a table in a corner.  They were not real busy and I could see four corner tables from where we were sitting.  For some reason they chose to move us to the opposite side of the restaurant in an equally bad spot.  Ron asked again if they had a corner table.  They led us into one of the smaller side rooms that was totally empty and put us at a table there and didn't turn on the lights - there were a couple of lights, but it was pretty dark in there.  Actually, it gave it a lot more of a romantic feel than the larger brighter rooms.  I could hear Ron very well as he sat across the table from me.  Our meal was very good once a waiter realized we had been seated in that room.  He turned out to be a good waiter once he found us.

Before going to work this morning, I spent about 30 minutes in the yard.  Some of the hanging baskets are just beginning to recover from last week's storm.  They are blooming well.   I stopped as I pulled out of the driveway to photograph the Royal Poinciana tree against the beautiful clouds this morning.

At the office, Ron spent a good bit of the day working in the hot warehouse.  Some one had broken out some windows in the back and he worked on replacing them.  Last week they had spray painted graffiti across the back of the building and he spent time last Friday painting over that.  He was hot and tired by the end of the day, so once we got home this evening, he went to sleep within a few minutes.  During the day I worked on some paperwork and took time to look at the books and DVD from the Houston Ear Research Foundation that I had gotten on our last visit.  It turned out there was nothing new in them, but I decided I should check them out before we go back up there in a few days.

We have enjoyed all the kind anniversary greetings on Facebook today and the cards we got in the mail.  I wish all marriages could be as filled with love as ours has been.  We have experienced problems along the way like everyone else, but God has been the stability in our marriage.  We love each other in the valleys and on the mountaintops.  God has blessed us in amazing ways and one of those is the wonderful family and friends we have.  Thank you all for being a part of our lives.  I am glad I could hear Ron say, "I love you" today - and every day.