Happy Birthday, Azelma!
From Paper to Memory
First Anniversary: Paper
The presents were inventive that first anniversary. Paper was hard to come up with ideas for, they said, but they managed. A lot of photographs, a couple books, and two old-fashioned paper gift certificates from stores that still provided them rather than the more common plastic cards. And then there was Aunt Cathy, who smiled and gave then an envelope inside which were two tickets to Hawaii. She said she’d booked a hotel for them for a week, and it was about time they finally had a honeymoon, since they hadn’t felt the timing had been good the year before.
Second Anniversary: Cotton
Cotton was a quiet year. Noah got them matching pajamas, amazing everyone by getting ones that were actually wearable. They got some lovely high-thread-count sheets (so soft and decadent Andrew felt almost guilty about using them at first) and a matching comforter, and some clothes, his-and-his towels (in two shades of blue). Silvie managed the gift they were most touched by this year, though. She’d taken up crocheting, and managed to surprise them with a huge, slightly misshapen afghan. It was a little bit lurid, white with a huge pink heart taking up most of the center. They treasured it.
Third Anniversar: Leather
Leather was ... an interesting anniversary. There was the laptop case for Caleb and a backpack for Andrew. There were new shoes and gloves for both of them. A pair of matching, engraved watches commemorating the date. And then there was the contest Noah, Tyler, and Mikey had to see who could make the Andrew and Caleb of the blush the hardest. All three were dissatisfied by the fact that the happy couple blushed so hard for all three that nobody could tell what won: Mikey’s handcuffs, Tyler’s handsome collar and leash, or Noah’s rather frightening stuffed, black-leather bondage bear.
Fourth Anniversary: Fruit
Their fourth year, at least, was fruit, which didn’t lend itself to anything too outrageous-except Noah’s strawberry body oil, which Tyler watched jealously as they opened. They got a couple fruit baskets and a pineapple welcome mat. Annabelle gave them a bonsai apple tree with an book. At first Andrew was rather disturbed by, given her fascination with cutting and shaping living things-but then he started reading and was lost in fascination himself, eventually finding himself with a hobby. Caleb was glad he had a reason to feel less guilty about the time he spent playing video games.
Fifth Anniversary: Wood
The success of the bonsai gave some of them an easy out the following year, and Andrew wound up with three new trees and a beautiful set of wooden implements for pruning. Diane and her new husband, Will, a carpenter (Tyler accused her of marrying him just to get him to make this anniversary gift), gave them a new bed, hand carved, and new a new mattress atop. It had never occurred to either of them to have anything more than a full-sized bed with a decade old mattress. They were kind of amazed at how much better they slept.
Sixth Anniversary: Iron and Candy
Their sixth anniversary they got enough candy to give an elephant diabetes, but it was shared widely enough that nobody got worse than Lisel’s stomach ache. Jake, who was in his first year at an art school, managed to combine both traditional gift concepts by making an iron mold of two men, side by side and arm in arm. He used it to make first a chocolate statuette, and then a wax one, which he dyed to have the proper hair colors and tuxes from the wedding. It was rough and vague, but Andrew swore it looked just like them.
Seventh Anniversary: Wool/Copper
Wool and copper seemed like awkward themes, but they managed. Lisel had picked up yarnwork from Silvie and made them wool scarves. They also got a sheepskin rug that Caleb had an obsession with and a set of copper-bottomed cookware (an hint from Aunt Cathy that they had to start cooking). Cole gave them a set of small, soft woolen blankets to use when they took care of Diane’s first baby. Some of the others complained the gift was not really for them-but Andrew understood and treasured them-though Caleb was far better with the babysitting than he was.
Eight Anniversary: Bronze
They received a pair of bronze candlesticks from Aunt Cathy and a prayer bowl from Isaiah (his boyfriend Scott swore they were not idols and God couldn’t object to them). A bronze-threaded table linen set with bronze napkin holders from Lisel. The gift that had Andrew in tears, though, was the plaque from Jake. He’d inscribed it with Corinthians 1:13: "Love is patient, love is kind. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails." Jake was the only one who could give it to him-the only one from whom biblical gifts could be taken seriously.
Ninth Anniversary:: Pottery
For the pottery anniversary, they got, predictably, a set of dishes and also a couple coffee mugs. Jake gave them a bowl he threw. Isaiah, finally accepting Andrew’s new hobby, got him a beautiful set of pots for his bonsai. It was the kids that really stole the day, though, when Peter, Diane’s elder son, very seriously presented them with a present from himself and John, his infant brother. Caleb and Andrew were both biting back tears when they unwrapped the tiny plaques with hand and foot prints, and had to control themselves at Peter’s obvious anxiety at their response.
Tenth Anniversary: Tin/Aluminum
Lisel gave them lurid foil art that made Jake shudder. Luckily, Lisel’s hide was leather-tough. Mikey and Julianne, hectic with the birth of their first child, apologized for giving only a bouquet of aluminum roses. Zaiah, alone again after two years with Scott, gave them the greatest gift. A mobile with a thousand cranes, each carefully folded from colored tinfoil. It wasn’t the gift itself that made Andrew treasure it beyond anything else they got that year. It was his first sign that Zaiah was okay. He’d taken enough time off the work he’d buried himself in to fold them.
Fifteenth Anniversary: Crystal
Their fifteenth anniversary was the first not attended by everyone. Even Noah in his darkest years had always found the time to attend Andrew and Caleb’s anniversary party. But this year, Cole was away with the sports team he healed, and sent his crystal watches with a card. Lisel’s gift was widely lauded the best of the year. A delicate crystal tree with a various colored fruits on it, one the color of each of their birth stones-including a ruby-colored apple for Elizabeth, Tyler and Apolo’s adopted daughter. Aunt Cathy’s replacing all their windows was considered the most inventive.
Twentieth Anniversary: China
Their twentieth anniversary was shadowed by the loss of Aunt Cathy, who had died only six months before. She’d specified in her will that her antique china cabinet was to be their twentieth anniversary present. The others filled it with a solemnity unusual to their gatherings. A beautiful set of blue willow china that several of them chipped in on filled the main shelf. The others got a tea set in bright colors and simple, elegant design. They bid the old lady farewell, even Isaiah sorry at the loss, though he’d never grown as close to her as the others.
Twenty-Fifth Anniversary: Silver
The house was filled with kids at their twenty-fifth anniversary, though the teenagers would rebel at the label. Three more had been born in the last five years-Sarah, who Diane swore would be her last, Noah, who Lisel had alone when she couldn’t find a man worth keeping, and Justin, Silvie’s first. They didn’t make up for the loss of Noah, who had died in a motorcycle accident just a year after Aunt Cathy and before his namesake’s birth. Oz, the man he’d left behind, squeezed Andrew’s shoulder reassuringly as he opened a set of silver candlesticks from Elizabeth.
Thirtieth Anniversary: Pearl
There was another hole in their ranks for their thirtieth anniversary, and another addition. Annabelle, sickly throughout her life, had died young, clinging to Isaiah’s hand as he carefully administered pain meds he’d never take himself. He’d spent the next two years interpreting and deciphering her final notes, and his gift, and hers, was to the whole world rather than just them. She’d cured AIDS, with the monetary support of the Wayne foundation. And the tiny, pearlescent pills were called Aneb, for Andrew and Caleb. And maybe a bit of Annabelle, too. And Diane had her first grandson, Peter’s Brian.
Thirty-Fifth Anniversary: Coral
Cole came to their thirty-fifth anniversary, an increasingly uncommon event. Even more unusual, he brought a friend, Henry, though Andrew couldn’t figure out what kind of friend. Anissa, Jessie’s three-year-old, gave them an inexpensive coral jewelry box with the understanding that she could use it whenever she visited. The next time she visited, she found a necklace in it. Their best gift, though, was from Tyler, who went above and beyond on the coral theme and got them an Australian snorkeling vacation. Once Andrew convinced Caleb to leave his computer and come outside, they had the time of their lives.
Fortieth Anniversary: Ruby
There were two more losses before their fortieth anniversary, both of them taken hard by everyone else. Diane was shattered by the loss of her second son, who was caught in a storm hiking and was taken by hypothermia before his friends could get help. And losing Tyler, who had been the most frustrating of ‘his children’, but no less loved for that, had been just as painful. Apolo and Elizabeth sat with Mikey and his family. This year, they’d pooled their resources for gifts and replaced all the crystal fruits on Lisel’s old tree with ones of precious stones.
Forty-Fifth Anniversary: Sapphire
Everyone thought for sure that Cole’s gift of a cruise through the sapphire-watered Bahamas would win as best gift of Andrew and Caleb’s forty-fifth anniversary, but they hadn’t counted on Elizabeth. She came in late, a bundle in her arms, and approached the couple with a smile so like Tyler’s his heart skipped a beat. “Just take a look at these eyes and tell me I don’t win the best sapphire-present,” she said. “And yes,” she added with a grin. “I’m married.” He bit his lip and stared into a pair of clear, blue eyes, and couldn’t disagree with her.
Fiftieth Anniversary: Gold
Their fiftieth anniversary was a huge party, rather than their usual family events. Andrew had years ago become a political figure without knowing it for his work to free the children of FSoK, and though he usually managed to keep it out of his personal life, his fiftieth anniversary was considered too great an occasion to go unmarked. Nevertheless, the gold-plated eagle with wings spread, gift from the United States President, was accepted graciously and immediately forgotten, while the little chunk of fool’s gold offered by the chubby hand of Diane’s first great grandchild, was admired and treasured for years.
Fifty-Fifth Anniversary: Emerald
Silvie passed on shortly before their fifty-fifth anniversary. Andrew had never seen Caleb so shattered. The two telepaths had grown close over the years, able to understand each other in a way that none of the others ever could. Justin, her only son, hugged them both hard at their anniversary, and gave them each a pair of emerald cufflinks that had been made from her favorite necklace. His two children, still sad from the loss of their grandmother, crawled onto Caleb’s knees and demanded that he talk in their heads and never, ever die. He promised not to die yet.
Sixtieth Anniversary: Diamond
Their diamond anniversary was a quiet affair-or as quiet as it could be with a family spanning four generations. Andrew put his foot down at the idea of anyone actually getting something so ostentatious as diamonds for him and Caleb, so they made a game of it, finding diamond-shaped things. There was a diamond cake, of course, and a kite from a couple of the youngsters, who promised to help them fly them. A diamond-shaped plate painstakingly made by Anissa’s five year-old, with their initials cut into it. Small, personal gifts that had far more value than any stone.
Seventieth Anniversary: Platinum
Andrew’s hearing was failing by their platinum anniversary. Caleb and he had an almost unconscious link between them all the time, with Caleb gently repeating everything that was said so Andrew would hear it, too. Diane had died in the last decade, and Mikey, and Cole. And losing Jake was especially hard. Isaiah and Lisel were the last ones left of the original group, the former looking less than half his age, and the latter just got more beautiful as the years piled on. He couldn’t remember what gifts they got, but he remembered the smiles and remembered the love.
Eightieth Anniversary: Oak
The surprise was not that they died but that they had lived so long and well and died so peacefully, side by side. On the date of their eightieth anniversary, aged 102 and 103, Andrew and Caleb were buried in oak caskets, side by side. Gifts were set within the caskets with them. A beautifully carved oak cane for Caleb, whose old one was starting to splinter. A pair of matched oak bracelets were clasped around their wrists. And an oak tree was planted between the two graves, each family member patting a handful of dirt around the seedling’s roots.
Ninetieth Anniversary: Granite
The statue was erected on what would have been their ninetieth anniversary. It was granite, and was made to commemorate the man who first turned the public eye towards the goings on in FSoK. He was one of the great names, one of the men mentioned in history books as someone who changed the world. The people who knew him, though, didn’t care so much about that. They knew him as a man who loved freely and passionately, with a loyalty and purity that had never been tarnished in all his long years. He was missed by a huge family.
Hundredth Anniversary: Memory
“I know you’d be laughing at me, talking to your grave when I’m practically an atheist, but wishful thinking is the universal religion, and sometimes I need to talk to you. It’s not family news this time. It’s bigger. Not more important, but bigger. The last children have been removed from FSoK. The ‘hospitals’ have been shut down. It’s a dying nation. We’ll have a fuel problem in a few years-but... it’s over. The whole nightmare’s over. I don’t even know what to feel. But I wanted to tell you. I love you, Andrew. You too, Caleb. Rest well.”
First Anniversary: Paper
The presents were inventive that first anniversary. Paper was hard to come up with ideas for, they said, but they managed. A lot of photographs, a couple books, and two old-fashioned paper gift certificates from stores that still provided them rather than the more common plastic cards. And then there was Aunt Cathy, who smiled and gave then an envelope inside which were two tickets to Hawaii. She said she’d booked a hotel for them for a week, and it was about time they finally had a honeymoon, since they hadn’t felt the timing had been good the year before.
Second Anniversary: Cotton
Cotton was a quiet year. Noah got them matching pajamas, amazing everyone by getting ones that were actually wearable. They got some lovely high-thread-count sheets (so soft and decadent Andrew felt almost guilty about using them at first) and a matching comforter, and some clothes, his-and-his towels (in two shades of blue). Silvie managed the gift they were most touched by this year, though. She’d taken up crocheting, and managed to surprise them with a huge, slightly misshapen afghan. It was a little bit lurid, white with a huge pink heart taking up most of the center. They treasured it.
Third Anniversar: Leather
Leather was ... an interesting anniversary. There was the laptop case for Caleb and a backpack for Andrew. There were new shoes and gloves for both of them. A pair of matching, engraved watches commemorating the date. And then there was the contest Noah, Tyler, and Mikey had to see who could make the Andrew and Caleb of the blush the hardest. All three were dissatisfied by the fact that the happy couple blushed so hard for all three that nobody could tell what won: Mikey’s handcuffs, Tyler’s handsome collar and leash, or Noah’s rather frightening stuffed, black-leather bondage bear.
Fourth Anniversary: Fruit
Their fourth year, at least, was fruit, which didn’t lend itself to anything too outrageous-except Noah’s strawberry body oil, which Tyler watched jealously as they opened. They got a couple fruit baskets and a pineapple welcome mat. Annabelle gave them a bonsai apple tree with an book. At first Andrew was rather disturbed by, given her fascination with cutting and shaping living things-but then he started reading and was lost in fascination himself, eventually finding himself with a hobby. Caleb was glad he had a reason to feel less guilty about the time he spent playing video games.
Fifth Anniversary: Wood
The success of the bonsai gave some of them an easy out the following year, and Andrew wound up with three new trees and a beautiful set of wooden implements for pruning. Diane and her new husband, Will, a carpenter (Tyler accused her of marrying him just to get him to make this anniversary gift), gave them a new bed, hand carved, and new a new mattress atop. It had never occurred to either of them to have anything more than a full-sized bed with a decade old mattress. They were kind of amazed at how much better they slept.
Sixth Anniversary: Iron and Candy
Their sixth anniversary they got enough candy to give an elephant diabetes, but it was shared widely enough that nobody got worse than Lisel’s stomach ache. Jake, who was in his first year at an art school, managed to combine both traditional gift concepts by making an iron mold of two men, side by side and arm in arm. He used it to make first a chocolate statuette, and then a wax one, which he dyed to have the proper hair colors and tuxes from the wedding. It was rough and vague, but Andrew swore it looked just like them.
Seventh Anniversary: Wool/Copper
Wool and copper seemed like awkward themes, but they managed. Lisel had picked up yarnwork from Silvie and made them wool scarves. They also got a sheepskin rug that Caleb had an obsession with and a set of copper-bottomed cookware (an hint from Aunt Cathy that they had to start cooking). Cole gave them a set of small, soft woolen blankets to use when they took care of Diane’s first baby. Some of the others complained the gift was not really for them-but Andrew understood and treasured them-though Caleb was far better with the babysitting than he was.
Eight Anniversary: Bronze
They received a pair of bronze candlesticks from Aunt Cathy and a prayer bowl from Isaiah (his boyfriend Scott swore they were not idols and God couldn’t object to them). A bronze-threaded table linen set with bronze napkin holders from Lisel. The gift that had Andrew in tears, though, was the plaque from Jake. He’d inscribed it with Corinthians 1:13: "Love is patient, love is kind. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails." Jake was the only one who could give it to him-the only one from whom biblical gifts could be taken seriously.
Ninth Anniversary:: Pottery
For the pottery anniversary, they got, predictably, a set of dishes and also a couple coffee mugs. Jake gave them a bowl he threw. Isaiah, finally accepting Andrew’s new hobby, got him a beautiful set of pots for his bonsai. It was the kids that really stole the day, though, when Peter, Diane’s elder son, very seriously presented them with a present from himself and John, his infant brother. Caleb and Andrew were both biting back tears when they unwrapped the tiny plaques with hand and foot prints, and had to control themselves at Peter’s obvious anxiety at their response.
Tenth Anniversary: Tin/Aluminum
Lisel gave them lurid foil art that made Jake shudder. Luckily, Lisel’s hide was leather-tough. Mikey and Julianne, hectic with the birth of their first child, apologized for giving only a bouquet of aluminum roses. Zaiah, alone again after two years with Scott, gave them the greatest gift. A mobile with a thousand cranes, each carefully folded from colored tinfoil. It wasn’t the gift itself that made Andrew treasure it beyond anything else they got that year. It was his first sign that Zaiah was okay. He’d taken enough time off the work he’d buried himself in to fold them.
Fifteenth Anniversary: Crystal
Their fifteenth anniversary was the first not attended by everyone. Even Noah in his darkest years had always found the time to attend Andrew and Caleb’s anniversary party. But this year, Cole was away with the sports team he healed, and sent his crystal watches with a card. Lisel’s gift was widely lauded the best of the year. A delicate crystal tree with a various colored fruits on it, one the color of each of their birth stones-including a ruby-colored apple for Elizabeth, Tyler and Apolo’s adopted daughter. Aunt Cathy’s replacing all their windows was considered the most inventive.
Twentieth Anniversary: China
Their twentieth anniversary was shadowed by the loss of Aunt Cathy, who had died only six months before. She’d specified in her will that her antique china cabinet was to be their twentieth anniversary present. The others filled it with a solemnity unusual to their gatherings. A beautiful set of blue willow china that several of them chipped in on filled the main shelf. The others got a tea set in bright colors and simple, elegant design. They bid the old lady farewell, even Isaiah sorry at the loss, though he’d never grown as close to her as the others.
Twenty-Fifth Anniversary: Silver
The house was filled with kids at their twenty-fifth anniversary, though the teenagers would rebel at the label. Three more had been born in the last five years-Sarah, who Diane swore would be her last, Noah, who Lisel had alone when she couldn’t find a man worth keeping, and Justin, Silvie’s first. They didn’t make up for the loss of Noah, who had died in a motorcycle accident just a year after Aunt Cathy and before his namesake’s birth. Oz, the man he’d left behind, squeezed Andrew’s shoulder reassuringly as he opened a set of silver candlesticks from Elizabeth.
Thirtieth Anniversary: Pearl
There was another hole in their ranks for their thirtieth anniversary, and another addition. Annabelle, sickly throughout her life, had died young, clinging to Isaiah’s hand as he carefully administered pain meds he’d never take himself. He’d spent the next two years interpreting and deciphering her final notes, and his gift, and hers, was to the whole world rather than just them. She’d cured AIDS, with the monetary support of the Wayne foundation. And the tiny, pearlescent pills were called Aneb, for Andrew and Caleb. And maybe a bit of Annabelle, too. And Diane had her first grandson, Peter’s Brian.
Thirty-Fifth Anniversary: Coral
Cole came to their thirty-fifth anniversary, an increasingly uncommon event. Even more unusual, he brought a friend, Henry, though Andrew couldn’t figure out what kind of friend. Anissa, Jessie’s three-year-old, gave them an inexpensive coral jewelry box with the understanding that she could use it whenever she visited. The next time she visited, she found a necklace in it. Their best gift, though, was from Tyler, who went above and beyond on the coral theme and got them an Australian snorkeling vacation. Once Andrew convinced Caleb to leave his computer and come outside, they had the time of their lives.
Fortieth Anniversary: Ruby
There were two more losses before their fortieth anniversary, both of them taken hard by everyone else. Diane was shattered by the loss of her second son, who was caught in a storm hiking and was taken by hypothermia before his friends could get help. And losing Tyler, who had been the most frustrating of ‘his children’, but no less loved for that, had been just as painful. Apolo and Elizabeth sat with Mikey and his family. This year, they’d pooled their resources for gifts and replaced all the crystal fruits on Lisel’s old tree with ones of precious stones.
Forty-Fifth Anniversary: Sapphire
Everyone thought for sure that Cole’s gift of a cruise through the sapphire-watered Bahamas would win as best gift of Andrew and Caleb’s forty-fifth anniversary, but they hadn’t counted on Elizabeth. She came in late, a bundle in her arms, and approached the couple with a smile so like Tyler’s his heart skipped a beat. “Just take a look at these eyes and tell me I don’t win the best sapphire-present,” she said. “And yes,” she added with a grin. “I’m married.” He bit his lip and stared into a pair of clear, blue eyes, and couldn’t disagree with her.
Fiftieth Anniversary: Gold
Their fiftieth anniversary was a huge party, rather than their usual family events. Andrew had years ago become a political figure without knowing it for his work to free the children of FSoK, and though he usually managed to keep it out of his personal life, his fiftieth anniversary was considered too great an occasion to go unmarked. Nevertheless, the gold-plated eagle with wings spread, gift from the United States President, was accepted graciously and immediately forgotten, while the little chunk of fool’s gold offered by the chubby hand of Diane’s first great grandchild, was admired and treasured for years.
Fifty-Fifth Anniversary: Emerald
Silvie passed on shortly before their fifty-fifth anniversary. Andrew had never seen Caleb so shattered. The two telepaths had grown close over the years, able to understand each other in a way that none of the others ever could. Justin, her only son, hugged them both hard at their anniversary, and gave them each a pair of emerald cufflinks that had been made from her favorite necklace. His two children, still sad from the loss of their grandmother, crawled onto Caleb’s knees and demanded that he talk in their heads and never, ever die. He promised not to die yet.
Sixtieth Anniversary: Diamond
Their diamond anniversary was a quiet affair-or as quiet as it could be with a family spanning four generations. Andrew put his foot down at the idea of anyone actually getting something so ostentatious as diamonds for him and Caleb, so they made a game of it, finding diamond-shaped things. There was a diamond cake, of course, and a kite from a couple of the youngsters, who promised to help them fly them. A diamond-shaped plate painstakingly made by Anissa’s five year-old, with their initials cut into it. Small, personal gifts that had far more value than any stone.
Seventieth Anniversary: Platinum
Andrew’s hearing was failing by their platinum anniversary. Caleb and he had an almost unconscious link between them all the time, with Caleb gently repeating everything that was said so Andrew would hear it, too. Diane had died in the last decade, and Mikey, and Cole. And losing Jake was especially hard. Isaiah and Lisel were the last ones left of the original group, the former looking less than half his age, and the latter just got more beautiful as the years piled on. He couldn’t remember what gifts they got, but he remembered the smiles and remembered the love.
Eightieth Anniversary: Oak
The surprise was not that they died but that they had lived so long and well and died so peacefully, side by side. On the date of their eightieth anniversary, aged 102 and 103, Andrew and Caleb were buried in oak caskets, side by side. Gifts were set within the caskets with them. A beautifully carved oak cane for Caleb, whose old one was starting to splinter. A pair of matched oak bracelets were clasped around their wrists. And an oak tree was planted between the two graves, each family member patting a handful of dirt around the seedling’s roots.
Ninetieth Anniversary: Granite
The statue was erected on what would have been their ninetieth anniversary. It was granite, and was made to commemorate the man who first turned the public eye towards the goings on in FSoK. He was one of the great names, one of the men mentioned in history books as someone who changed the world. The people who knew him, though, didn’t care so much about that. They knew him as a man who loved freely and passionately, with a loyalty and purity that had never been tarnished in all his long years. He was missed by a huge family.
Hundredth Anniversary: Memory
“I know you’d be laughing at me, talking to your grave when I’m practically an atheist, but wishful thinking is the universal religion, and sometimes I need to talk to you. It’s not family news this time. It’s bigger. Not more important, but bigger. The last children have been removed from FSoK. The ‘hospitals’ have been shut down. It’s a dying nation. We’ll have a fuel problem in a few years-but... it’s over. The whole nightmare’s over. I don’t even know what to feel. But I wanted to tell you. I love you, Andrew. You too, Caleb. Rest well.”