The Year of the Pearl

It’s a shock when you realize that you’ve spent more than half your life being married, and even more of a shock when you realize that you’re still married to the same person. We celebrated our 30th wedding anniversary yesterday – the year of the pearl.

It’s funny that I never had any doubts about this relationship. It was never with the thought that it might not last. We started out as just good friends, office mates that found an attraction beyond work. The romance part of it sort of snuck up on me. Probably a good thing, because I tended to run any time someone seemed seriously interested in me.

We were married on a hot steamy August day. It was not a day without incident. The first problem occurred when my husband-to-be put on his tux and found there were no studs included. This is when it was great to be living in a group house in Wesley Heights, where we could go next door and borrow studs from our neighbor, who had several sets to choose from. Meanwhile, my husband’s Aunt Zelda was insulting multiple guests and relatives while we attempted to get to the "synagogue" on time. The only snafu in the wedding was when I almost ran down the aisle before we had our wedding kiss. You see I had never before been to a Jewish wedding and I was so caught up in doing everything I was supposed to do that I almost forgot the most important thing!

Thirty years is a very long time. It hasn’t been problem-free. But we’ve always been able to talk to each other. Sometimes in loud voices, but we always talked. We weathered the storm of raising children, dealing with sick parents, dying pets, you name it. There have been many times when we were just too tired to be romantic, but they never lasted for very long. Sex has continued to be an important part of our relationship.

My card from my husband yesterday said, "Our love grows stronger every year (despite an occasional screw-up like The Magus)." To which I replied in my card, "Let’s go for another 30!" I really can’t imagine myself with anyone else, not ever!