25 Years

Today is my 25th wedding anniversary. By coincidence, it’s also my husband’s. It’s like we planned it or something.

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By tradition, 25 years of wedded bliss is celebrated as the “Silver Anniversary.” Neither one of us is very romantic ”” we have a much more practical bent plus we’re lazy. So very lazy. But this year I thought I’d try to surprise him with something different so I hopped online to find some ways to celebrate.

These are some of the ideas I found:

Use sparkly silver glitter on flowers, cards, centerpieces, gift wrap, balloons, etc. Set the table with a paper silver tablecloth, rent china and crystal with a silver or chrome trim, use silver looking votive candles, place flowers in silver colored vases.

…. Or I could sprinkle glitter on the four-day-old pile of newspapers that has become our centerpiece. Maybe lighting them on fire would add a cozy, romantic touch.

• Toast one another with Champagne.

…. We already do this one. A lot. But mostly just when we toss another beer bottle in the trashcan, causing a lovely clinking sensation. Or is that when an angel gets its wings?

• Plan a picnic with paper silver-colored plates and cups.

…. Maybe, but neither one of us actually wants to go on a picnic in November in Colorado. But I’ll certainly consider planning one. The gift, I suppose, would be when I laid out the plans, saw his horrified face, then told him he didn’t have to go. Priceless.

Purchase tickets for a movie, sports event, concert, theatre, etc. and wrap with a silver ribbon or place in a silver box.

…. We do this all the time. We tend to wrap them up in credit card receipts, though.

Plan a trip to Silver Springs in Maryland or Florida, Silverstrand Beach in California or Ireland, or to a Silver Mine.

…. Or we could find everything on Netflix with Ron Silver, Sarah Silverman, Alicia Silverstone and Phil Silvers and have a marathon.

Put together a CD with songs from the era of the marriage date.

…. Um … that’s pretty much all the music we have.

Assemble a memory photo album with pictures highlighting 25 years together. Include the wedding, children, grandchildren, friends, trips taken together, homes lived in, etc. A nice addition is to include stories from children and friends.

…. Feeling smug about this one as we’ve been making photo albums for more than 25 years. We never look at them, however, because if you disturb the dust you sneeze for a month. (And really? People need to be told what to put in a photo album??)

Create a poem, write it in silver ink, and display it in a silver colored frame.

…. I tried this one, but I’m not sure ””

There once was a couple from Denver

Who loved to watch Netflix like “Ben Hur”

They secured a good date

But the mailman’s too late

And they couldn’t quite find a new vendor

Put together a family quilt comprised of each square done by a family member or close friends.

…. Okay, just let me get started. Probably won’t take too long. I have a couple hours till dinner.

Make a wish tree. You can use a big branch that you paint silver and decorate with silver ribbons, ornaments etc. Fill the branches with pictures of major events in your life, people who love and cherish you as well as tickets for a trip, travelers checks, gift certificates for different events and restaurants you could use on a trip, etc.

…. This one baffles me. What exactly would you be wishing for? That your life was different and didn’t have all these icky events and people who love you? That your anniversary was closer to Christmas so you wouldn’t have to haul yet another big tree into your house? That you could actually spend the travelers checks and gift certificates instead of impaling them on a dead branch in your living room? Pass.

None of these really speak to me as the best way to celebrate our 25 official years together.

Instead, I think I’ll find a shiny quarter ”” so simple, yet so symbolic ”” and we’ll flip it.

Heads does the laundry, tails cleans the kitchen.

Bonus photos!

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This photo doesn’t do it justice, but see this enormous train and veil? It weighed at least 75 pounds and took 14 festively dressed Guatemalan children to wrestle it into place. But it segues nicely into the next photo, one of my favorites ….

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That’s me and my dad trying to squeeze through the church doors without wrecking the dress or any of the Guatemalan children. Our hearts weren’t bursting with love for the photographer just then. It makes me laugh every time I remember it. I’m just glad the music was loud enough to cover our cursing.

What do you think makes for a worthy 25th Anniversary celebration?

7 thoughts on “25 Years”

  1. Given the over 50 percent failure rate of contemporary marriage,I would think that the mere act of MAKING it to 25 years of up-n-down bliss is reward sufficient*…

    *Lessons learned along the way:

    (following lines spoken by the male (or person acting in the role of the male) of the blissful couple:

    a) yes, dear.
    b) I was wrong dear.
    c) I’ll never do it again, dear.

    d) repeat as needed.

    -that- is how easy it can be…

  2. Congrats Becky! One of your funniest blogs evah. Anything with a limerick is gonna get my vote…
    Oh yeah, and on that being married a long time thing, too. In my case, the marriage longevity is directly a result of stubborness.

  3. Congrats to you Becky and Wes. Love the photos and the blog! You and your dad are priceless.
    If I am ever married to the same man for 25 years I suppose I will have to consider all this silver stuff.
    But you guys should be able to just look at your beautiful kids and feel good about that, right?
    Happy anniversary!

  4. Ah, but it’s never quite that easy, is it, Bob?

    Claudia … stubborness works. So too does the Chore Incentive. If I didn’t have hubbie, who would handle my computer/plumbing/lawnmower issues? And if he didn’t have me, who would handle … um … all the stuff I’m sure I do?

    Liz … it’s a fallacy. You NEVER have to consider all the silver stuff, even if you’re married that long. It’s just another way the Man at Hallmark is keeping us down. And poor.

    George … my father has always been a cross between Charles Durning, Harvey Korman, and Archie Bunker. In all the ways you can possibly imagine. Except for that famous thang. He had that look on his face through all of my childhood and most of my adulthood, BTW. His crankiness is the stuff of legend, celebrated in fable and rhyme, and once with interpretive dance.

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