Happy Anniversary to Us!

Today's our 32nd anniversary. It's been a while since I've posted anything on this blog, and since there really isn't anything else on the calendar, I thought that preserving something for our posterity might be a good use of my time. I learned that all of our wedding pictures (not nearly as many as were taken for Jeff's wedding!) hadn't been scanned, so that was a fun project that filled my morning. The plan is to share some of them over time, hopefully on the 20th of each month. Pictures are great, but one thing I've learned this year from doing family history is that stories are even better. I'm not much of a story teller, but I'll try.

Anyway, one thought I had as I realized that 32 years really is a long time, was to wonder how many of the gifts we received were still around.

Anyone know what that red ball thing is?
Hint: we actually discussed it while the siblings were debating Jeff's wedding present.

 I was surprised at how many actually were. 

They include:

• ice cream dishes
• cook books
• serving platters of all sorts
• glass candy dishes
• silver bowls
• a clay pot cooker
• that orange plaid tablecloth (top row, right)
• crystal and china
• a couple of glass salad bowls (we received 7 sets!)
• the Tupperware marinating set (usually used to store cookies in the freezer, not for marinating chicken)
• potholders (if we still have wedding dish towels, they're in the rag box, maybe the potholders should be, too!)
• bath towels (at least that yellow set)
• stainless mixing bowls
• popcorn popper
• crock pot

Those are just the things that I noticed and took pictures of as I wandered around our house.

I think one of the wonderful things about wedding gifts (or any gift, really) is that as you use them you can remember the giver, but more importantly, you can remember the love and concern that those friends and family members have for you. And it doesn't stop once the wedding festivities are over. Every single Sunday, as I set the table for dinner, I remember that our china is a gift from parents (and other friends and family) who love us, who have set a great example for us, and who want us to have the happiness that comes from choosing the right. Whenever we use my grandmother's crystal, it's like she's right there in the room with us, even though she left this world 30 years ago. Cooking and cleaning aren't quite so onerous when they bring reminders of loved ones. I guess that's why I don't particularly like giving gift cards; I want those I care about to have a physical reminder of our love for them.

Of course, there are some things that haven't lasted 32 years, but we appreciated them while they did last, and I can still feel the love and friendship as I recall those objects. Even the replacement things help me remember the original. (For example, one year Weston gave me an iron for Mother's Day. That was three irons ago - I guess I'm hard on irons - yet, even still, I remember that Weston loves me every single time I iron a shirt.)

"Thing" gifts are nice, but the intagibles are even nicer. I can no longer fit into my wedding dress, and this very 80's red dress is long gone, but the love we felt on our wedding day has increased exponentially, and it's just going to keep growing!

The end of a very long day!

Here are links to a couple of previous "anniversary" blog posts:
#26 (poisoned berried story)
#27 (cake topper story)