Sunday, July 11, 2010

Celebrating Pre-Anniversaries

We may not be wealthy people, except in spirit, but each day we celebrate the spirit of abundance. That may explain all the various special days we celebrate. That and making up for a half century of lost time it took us to meet each other. Sure, we enjoyed those 50 years. We had many wonderful experiences, learned a lot, laughed a lot, cried a lot. But knowing at best we will only be together for 30 or 40 years, if health blesses us richly, as a couple we need to make each day, each month, each year count.

We celebrate the day Teri responded by e-mail to my first wink (the 12th), the day of our first (10 hour) date (the 26th) and now also the 10th. That's our Pre-Anniversary. At this writing, we are 14 months away from the wedding day. What makes the July 10, 2010, Pre-Anniversary celebration more special is that we met with Teri's cousin, Delbert, and tentatively chose a wedding venue, the church where he preaches in Athena, a small town named for the Goddess of Nearly Everything. I'm especially excited, as a person dedicated to lifelong learning, about Delbert's requirement of six pre-marital counseling sessions. We both enjoy his company. We'll be entertained as well as enlightened. We have done a good job already establishing a family meeting structure where we can talk about anything and everything, especially the tough issues, and come up with satisfactory compromises. We also are realistic enough at this late stage to know puppy love and a crush from a deeper form of love, and we also know that our relationship needs constant nurturing and will continue to evolve. But an objective outside voice of wisdom can help supply other building blocks for a foundation that will make the marriage more storm proof.

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