anniversary show off - a retrospective

On Friday, the day before the weekend before the week of our wedding anniversary, both of us busy with projects, Stephen said to me, "Can I ask a question?" He looked like he wasn't sure he should ask. "Have you started working on my anniversary card?"

I said, "Oh my god, no!"

"Me neither," he said. "Everything I thought about working on is lame."

I said, "Oh my god, everything I thought about working on is lame too!"

Raised eyebrows and a half smile can go from tentative to relieved, back to tentative so fast. "What would you say," he said, "if just for this year," he said, "maybe," he said.

I reached out and, without saying anything else, shook his hand.

Of course, as relieved as we both were that we could let the tradition lapse for a year (it's not really a year, of course. We make personalized cards for Christmas, for Valentine's Day, for each birthday...), we've been feeling the expected letdown that comes from not being able to get up in the morning and show off the apparent brilliance of our personalized anniversary cards (because isn't showing off what togetherness is all about?). So, I decided what needed to happen was a retrospective of all the silly anniversary cards we've labored over since we started this tradition.

Because I'm not as organized as Stephen, and can't find my file for the card I made him in 2007, we're going to start with him.

2007, his to me. The outside.

The inside.

Neither of us has whatever the heck card we did for each other in 2008. So, we move on to...

2009, his to me.

2009, mine to him.

OK, I don't have that one either But I assure you it must have been terribly clever.

2010, his to me.

2010, mine to him.

2011, his to me.

2011, mine to him.

2012, his to me. I still think this is my favorite of all time.

2012, mine to him.

2013, his to me. This is the first anniversary after his fall.

2013, mine to him. The outside image.

The inside image.

anniversary card show-off

Today is our sixth anniversary. Stephen and I spent yesterday and today at the beach with Nicholas. Stephen did all the legwork (thank you!) to find us a place to stay, where they take dogs, and the three of us did some frolicking on the beach - in the spitting rain yesterday and in the sun today.

This morning over coffee we exchanged anniversary cards - and that means here comes this year's anniversary card show off blog post.

First his:

Hee!


Then mine:

a moment in the day: water clock

I step into the bedroom, reach to the clock and turn down the sound of electric water until the room is silent. Usually just turning down the water makes Stephen come awake, but he's still a long, lean lump under the covers. I shake his shoulder a little and he lifts his head.

"I turned the water off and you didn't wake up," I say.

"Wwww gblg mfff?" he says.

"Good morning," I say. "Would you like coffee or tea? Or me?"

"Coffee, gblg mfff?" he says.

"Would you marry me?" I say.

His eyes blink. He looks like maybe a burglar crawled through the window and proposed to him. "Marry what say?" he says. Then another blink. Then he's awake. "Oh," he says. "Happy anniversary."

On the original day, when Stephen was the one proposing to me and I was the one in the bed, the big moment was bookended by an old dog peeing on the floor and an old cat puking on the carpet. This morning, warm under the covers against Stephen's body a young dog sleeps.