Thirty-Six Years Later

A Kiss to Build a Dream On

Thirty-six years ago tonight at about 12:30 am, everybody was in bed except for Ron and me. We were up talking about and laughing over our next day's speeches. After a while, my mother got up to scold us: "This is a wedding you know, not a circus!"

Tonight, thirty-six years later, I am up again, this time alone while Cuppa sleeps. She stayed up rather late tonight, however. In fact, we had been in bed but decided to do something racy. Are you ready for this? We got up and made toast at almost midnight. We even had jam on our toast. That's living on the edge for us!

It was over toast that we got the bright idea of blogging some old photos. So, here I am, posting photos of the way we were. Very young; very happy. (Expect to see another on Cuppa's blog.)

The next day or later that same day, way back then, Cuppa and I tied the knot. Ron and I gave our reception speeches and managed to inject some humour without turning the wedding into a circus. In the strange way of time, thirty-six years goes by pretty quickly, and in the strange way of time, it also seems as though Cuppa and I have been together for an eternity.

Compared to current norms, we married young. I was still at university, with more than a year to go, and had a year of Teacher's College left to complete after that. It was stupid of us, I suppose, but it worked. Even though nobody, including us, knows anything when they are twenty-one, we did love each other. We were committed, and we had integrity. We had enough character to make it work, and it has worked — with very few upsets and very few disagreements.

After our out-of-character extravaganza at The Falls for our thirty-fifth anniversary last year, we will return to doing what what we have normally done: have a nice day doing more or less regular things and have a pizza for supper. Last year we had chateaubriand; this year, we'll settle for pizza; it's a tradition that we'll happily resume.

While it is great to do it up every now and then, like last year, Cuppa and I find much pleasure in sharing a simple meal or a cup of coffee at Tim's or fries under the bridge. You really need to be able to do that: enjoy the simple moments and pleasures because they are the stuff of life. While it's wonderful to have significant highlights, such as a memorable vacation, to mark your days, it is crucial that we find some pleasure and delight in the simple and ordinary things: like toast at (almost) midnight.

I would do it all again Cuppa. Love ya, old girl.

Beginning the Dream