Anniversaries

Kate Wyland

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Last week was our anniversary. We’ve been married a long time, but I won’t tell you just how many years. This anniversary was one that people tend to make a big deal of. We had planned to take a trip to Italy last Spring as part of our celebration—had all the reservations, plane tickets, itineraries set up. But my hubby ended up in the hospital the month before and we were left dealing with doctor visits when we should have been in Rome. We thought we’d try for this Fall instead, but that probably won’t happen now.

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Seems the universe decided it was time for us to buy a house again. When it came to time to renew the lease on the place we’ve been renting for a few years, the owner informed us he had decided to sell, but we could have first dibs. So quite unexpectedly we were faced with either buying a house we weren’t that enthusiastic about or finding another to buy or rent. Given the ridiculous housing market in our area we eventually came to the conclusion that staying where we were was the most practical choice. The realtor I was working with insisted it was a good investment. So for the past month we’ve been dealing with all the endless paperwork and inspections and signings and so forth that are required these days. I swear the documentation has doubled in the ten years since we last dealt with real estate. But now we can fix up the place the way we’d really like it.

Somehow all this hoorah has taken away our interest in having much of a celebration. Our kids would like to give us a party, but right now we’d just like to catch our breaths and have some quiet time. Maybe in a couple of weeks we’ll feel like partying.

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So last weekend we drove down to one of our favorite places and stayed the night. The Monterey-Carmel area of California is one of the most beautiful places on earth. Next to Monterey is the small town of Pacific Grove, which has a spectacular coastline we never tire of exploring. We stayed at a funky little motel called the Butterfly Grove Inn, which is next to the famed grove of Eucalyptus trees where the Monarch butterflies spend the winter. Then we had dinner at one of our all-time favorite restaurants, the Passion Fish. Wonderful gourmet meals and surprisingly reasonable prices.

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The following day we roamed the town of Carmel, home to charming little hide-away restaurants and exclusive galleries and shops. At the end of the day we had a drink at the Carmel Highlands and watched the waves come in. All together a quiet, relaxing weekend.

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The Tuck Box in Carmel

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Whenever anyone talks about an anniversary the emphasis is usually on how long you’ve been married. Wow, ten years! As if it’s some sort of endurance race you should be congratulated on finishing. Amazing, twenty-five years! Astounding, forty years! This has always struck me as sort strange. In my mind the thing to be celebrated is not how long you’ve “survived” being together, but the day you pledged your love to your other. When you come down to it, every day is an anniversary and every day you need to renew your commitment.

How about you? How long have you been married (if you’re married)? How do you celebrate your anniversaries?

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Venice: photo credit: <a href=”https://www.flickr.com/photos/lendog64/5191832919/”>LenDog64</a&gt; via <a href=”http://photopin.com”>photopin</a&gt; <a href=”http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/2.0/”>cc</a&gt;

 

 

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FOREWARNING
Healing is her life. Will it be her death?

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Wyoming Escape
Two dead bodies. One dirty cop.
Is she next?

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 Images – A Love Story
She’s learned to hide from life.
Should she hide from him?

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Connect with Kate Wyland:
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Twitter:  https://twitter.com/katewyland
Website : http://katewyland.com

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