One Day After The One Year Anniversary!!!

Susie and I celebrated a full year of marriage together yesterday.

On our anniversary, 3/26, we got up and shared our gifts with one another. The 1st anniversary is the "paper" anniversary and apparently the flower is the orange blossom and/or pansy...I opted for the orange blossom as the pansy just doesn't sound like "I love my wife" to me, neither did paper until I read that it is representative of the interconnectedness of marriage analagous to the fibers that bind to form the paper. While orange blossoms represent, the fruitfullness of new marriage amongst other things. Anyway, I found myself drawn to these old traditional symbolisms of which I don't know the actual origin.

The day went something like this:

Jack woke up at 3am and Susie got up to feed him. I had hidden love notes on strips of paper all over the house for her to find. One was in Jack's formula container which she found in the night hopefully making the middle of the night feeding a bit more bearable. Later that morning, Susie slowly found about 20 notes hidden throughout the house through the course of the day. Susie had created a paper chain link, which I was instructed I could undo a link of each day until complete. Each link has something written on it for me to read. The first was a note which I will keep to myself. Then at around 9am, we exchanged cards and I gave Susie a Bonsai Orange Tree which actually bears edible Mandarin Oranges and the 1st anniversary flower, orange blossoms. Susie gave me a giant bag filled with different gifts including a Wok which I have been wanting for quite some time. Then, I gave Susie a gift I had planned to give to her at the beach but due to the unavailability of an impromptu babysitter and my own lack of forsight, I was forced to hand it to her directly. I handed her a bottle, actually a vase with a cork in it, stuffed with a paper note. Originally I was going to sneak the bottle down to the waters edge at the beach and tell her I found it there, "a message in a bottle", sticking with the paper theme. Anyway, she opened the bottle and slipped the note out which was tied with a ribbon. She opened the note which had on it a piece of our actual wedding ceremony that we had chosen a year ago, a Native American ceremonial, which read as follows:

Now we will feel no rain, for each of us is shelter for the other. Now we will feel no cold, for each of us is warmth to the other. Now there is no loneliness, for each of us is the companion to the other. Now we are two persons, but there is only one life before us. May beauty surround us both in the journey ahead and through all of our years. May happiness be our companion and our days together be good and long upon the earth.

After that, Jack decided to fuss without much time to be in the moment, as if to say, "you guys will not forget about me even if it is you anniversary". All day, except for a brief stint, Jack was cranky, at which time we were able to eat lunch, a nice lunch I might add. It seemed for a brief moment like we were set to have a great day. Until Jack decided to skip his typical napping schedule, staying awake until almost 3:15 that afternoon. That was 6 straight hours of Jack, who even on a good day which this was not, can be quite the challenge. Anyway, we took Jack on a walk after struggling all day. Both of us at our wits end, wanting to hit something or someone, walking in silence, Jack fell asleep. He awoke at some point, ate some squash, went on another walk with me, ate his bottle with his mom, and finally went to bed for the night.

The grandparents arrived at around 6pm and freed us. We set out, giddy at our sudden freedom like we had just been sprung from a high security prison. We drove quickly to our favorite watering hole which we had not been to in over a year. The bartender immediately acknowledged our absence while unknowingly alluded to our wild past and abruptly changed lifestyles all at once. We sat and had two beers each(more than we have had in one sitting in over a year)and reminisced over the past year. We laughed at how difficult it has been and how great at the same time. We discussed how crazy we are for one another and how lucky we feel to be together. We played a few of our favorite songs on the jukebox and then left not knowing when we might get back. Then we went out for a nice dinner at a small, romantic Italian restaraunt. Periodically, we both would stop and just smile at the other. We talked about the next 50 years and how lucky we are to have found each other.

At 9:30pm, we went home, tired, missing our son, and In LOVE as always!!!

Happy Anniversary Susie Blue...