Happy anniversary, my love

After living with Tex for a couple of years, Yetsa, my teenage granddaughter asked him, “Tex, what’s wrong with my grandmother?”

Never having married, never having children, never spending time with wonderfully gorgeous teenage girls (at least not since he was a teenager), he awkwardly said, “Nothing.”

“Then why don’t you marry her?” she asked.

I have never heard his answer. But not long after Tex and I were planning a wedding. We had a party. Music. Dancing. Loving family. Good friends. Delicious food.

Tex sung “Pretty Woman.” What else could a woman want at her wedding?

When we said “I do” it was a promise that we would go the distance with each other. It was easier for us to believe than when you make that promise and are looking 40 or 50 years into the future. Tex was 68 and I was 62. Previously Tex had plans to spend his aging years travelling, something he’d done all his life. Previously I had plans to spend my aging years writing, creating and engaging with my children and grandchildren, something I’d done most of my life. It wasn’t hard to make our goals compatible.

Going the distance also meant “in sickness and in health”. I think we said that in our vows although I can’t remember and I can’t find them. Two and a half years later, on March 12, 2020, the day after the first major public announcement Tex and I came down with COVID. I had the nasty but manageable variant. Tex had the killer type. But he lived and still lives with a long-COVID heart condition. Since then he has had two new hips and is hopefully waiting for a fix for his feet that have lost most of their ability to navigate.

This “Happy Anniversary” message is to report on the “for better and for worse” part of our vows. I’m also pretty sure we said something like that. It is for better. Expectations are softened by acquiescence. Having fun is as simple as a game of Wordle. Finding the word in three tries is cause enough for celebration. Getting old together is a gift.

Weddings are public demonstrations of love and commitment. Anniversaries, along with blogs and Facebook, are a wonderful opportunity to publicly recommit and restate that love.

Happy anniversary, my love.