Anniversary City

Robin Agnew

Today is my 27^th wedding anniversary.  How did that happen?  I remember when my grandmother was old, she told me how fast the years went, and being young, I listened politely, but I didn’t believe her.  My husband and I met in the most obvious of places: college.  We met when he was a senior and I was a junior – it seemed impossible!  Sobbing as I drove away with my mother at the end of junior year – I’ll never see him again! – my mother tut tutted and said merely, “If it’s meant to be, it will happen.”

 She was right, of course, and her marital advice (she’s been married 52 years) was on the mark too:  she told me to marry someone who I wasn’t afraid of and who made me laugh.  I hit a home run on both counts, and the very first thing that drew me to my husband was his humor. 

 We got married the month after I graduated from college, and my husband waited for me in Columbus, Ohio, to finish up while he worked a crap job.  After we got married in the great recession of 1982, we shoved all our stuff into our crap car, a VW Rabbit, and drove to Minneapolis on a whim, where Jamie (the man in question) ended up going to the University of Minnesota for graduate school and we both worked a succession of crap jobs while living in crap apartments.  I could have cared less, we had such a blast those first few years on our own.

 When we hit 30 it seemed like baby time and we moved back to Michigan to be near my family, picking Ann Arbor out of a hat because it sounded cool.  It was cool, and the babies came quickly thereafter, granny close enough to drive over and cook and change a few diapers when they were born.

 Zap, another decade or so and we founded Aunt Agatha’s and watched the kids grow up.  I’ve read all sorts of articles on the secrets of long term relationships, but it seems pretty simple to me: marry your best friend.  We also like (well, we are best friends) many of the same things – books above all, movies, art galleries.  Sure marriage has it’s bumps but that’s the advice another relative, a cool great aunt, gave me when I got married: “always be loving friends.”  Somewhere I have the yellowed card she wrote that on.

 Happy Anniversary, James Ford Agnew.  I hope we have 27 more – at least. 

 

Comments

[Martha Seaman McKee]

Congratualtions! When it's right, marriage is the best of everything.
love, Martha

[Kim Malo]

Nice to read something that gives me a big goofy grin. Congrads to both of you for marrying great people.

[GregZilla]

It's good to see a non-Vegas-married couple beat the odds.

[Judy5cents]

As someone who met her husband later in life (age 38), I've always envied the couples who married young and stayed together. You not only grow old together, you grow up together. And you can look at at each other and still see a version of the handsome 20/21 year olds you used to be. Congratulations and I hope you have many more years together.

[Robin Agnew]

Well, a VERSION, anyway! My husband was looking at photos of his 30th class reunion the other day (he didn't go) and he said "Why are all those old guys there?"

[Lartonmedia]

Congratulations to both of you!

[DeadlyAccurate]

Congratulations! What a wonderful post. And yes, I agree: marrying my best friend was the best thing I ever did (going on 17 years).