New Boots and Contracts

What’s an anniversary?

In these days of long-term unmarried partnerships and arguments over who should even get married and half of those who are allowed to get married getting divorced at some point, celebrating a wedding anniversary seems either archaic or more meaningful than ever. But how do you choose which one?

Fourteen years ago today, I drove to Katie’s office at her lunch hour and picked her up. We drove over to the courthouse and stood in front of a judge wearing giant 80s geometric earrings, answered a few questions, said some words, and signed a contract. I giggled at some point. I took Katie back to her office and drove back to my job. Just like that, we were married in the eyes of the state.

Four months later my father performed a Presbyterian “Blessing of the Marriage” ceremony in a rented Unitarian church filled with our friends and family. One friend did us a huge favor by having his swing band stop by the reception for an hour before they had to hit the road for a show in Dallas that night.

Roughly six years prior to that, Katie and I went on our first date. Some time in that six years, there was a year when we were not together. So, fudging a few weeks here and there, it’s been twenty years that we’ve been working on getting it right. Every day is square one.

This year we’re going out to dinner tonight. We might do something on that other anniversary, too. And remember that we’re getting close to having spent half our lives together.