The 4th of July -- Independence Day -- and 20 Years
Ah, what a wonderful day. On July 4th, 2007, Richard and I celebrated 20 years of marriage. And we had a great day. Nothing special -- he gave me some very nice and touching cards, and I (after hunting and hunting for the cards I'd bought for him quite a while ago and put away somewhere safe, where I could no longer locate them) printed him some cards that were perhaps better than those I'd found at the store. (One day I'll find the other cards and give those to him, too.) We just had a nice day, playing pickleball in the morning, spending nice time with each other, and otherwise doing what we always do, with perhaps a bit more flavor than usual because it was supposed to be a special day.
The thing is, we have special days most of the time. It's one of Richard's special qualities that he works very hard on making every day a special day. And so they are. I retired because he wanted us to enjoy more, and we do. We do. I revel in our life, our family, our everyday occurrences that bring happiness just being alive.
The evening was quiet until about 8:30 or so when the City of Surprise fireworks started going off. It's wonderful that we can see these quite nicely from our back yard. We went outside into a little less heat than there had been earlier in the day and sat higher up on the barbecue platform, watching the sparkles in the sky with much enjoyment. The last time we saw these here was three years ago (we'd spent the last two fourths in the Boston area -- the last fourth at the Charles River, enjoying the incredible fireworks and the Pops music -- truly something not to be missed if you can ever get there). The city puts quite an effort into the fireworks display, and they were very enjoyable.
But perhaps the most fascinating thing was watching a small bunny that emerged from under a bush to watch the fireworks, too. It sat there, pointed in the direction of the blasts, just motionless as bunnies often are, but it stayed, and stayed, and stayed. I truly think it was watching the colors and lights and enjoying the show. I liked that.
So here's to another 20 years. And then 20 more after that. :-)
The thing is, we have special days most of the time. It's one of Richard's special qualities that he works very hard on making every day a special day. And so they are. I retired because he wanted us to enjoy more, and we do. We do. I revel in our life, our family, our everyday occurrences that bring happiness just being alive.
The evening was quiet until about 8:30 or so when the City of Surprise fireworks started going off. It's wonderful that we can see these quite nicely from our back yard. We went outside into a little less heat than there had been earlier in the day and sat higher up on the barbecue platform, watching the sparkles in the sky with much enjoyment. The last time we saw these here was three years ago (we'd spent the last two fourths in the Boston area -- the last fourth at the Charles River, enjoying the incredible fireworks and the Pops music -- truly something not to be missed if you can ever get there). The city puts quite an effort into the fireworks display, and they were very enjoyable.
But perhaps the most fascinating thing was watching a small bunny that emerged from under a bush to watch the fireworks, too. It sat there, pointed in the direction of the blasts, just motionless as bunnies often are, but it stayed, and stayed, and stayed. I truly think it was watching the colors and lights and enjoying the show. I liked that.
So here's to another 20 years. And then 20 more after that. :-)