45 Years Married !

So, we got married 45 years ago yesterday and I thought that rated a blog post of its own.

A few facts about our wedding:

We were broke. My dress was from the sale rack at a wedding store and cost more to tailor to fit me than the original price tag.

We had our reception at my mother’s apartment complex rec room. She and some friends took a turkey The Husband won at my work Christmas party and made turkey salad for the reception.

Our cake had a Lego-style castle on it and those candies that looked like rocks.

My grandfather gave me away. He trembled all the way down the aisle and when I asked him why later, he said because it was hard giving me away. *sob*

My maid of honor, Zan (L), has been my BFF for 62 years! Her sister, Leeann (R), was a bridesmaid and I’ve known her just as long. Gay (2nd from R), friend and fellow Girl Scout for at least 60 years, also served as a bridesmaid. And they all made their own dresses. I assembled the silk flowers we all carried, including one bouquet to throw. I still have mine.

The Husband wore a cape and foil. He’s an actor ~ I wouldn’t have expected a normal tux, LOL! Also, we had the Dorain Gray of photo albums ~ the original album fell to pieces but the marriage keeps going!!

We were the shortest in our wedding party. Yes, in this picture, the folks in the back are standing on the altar. But, even so, we really were the shortest…

Fast forward 45 years. We’ve been through a lot, both good and bad. Sickness but mostly health. Poorer but sometimes richer. How have we stayed together? I think we liked each other and the importance of that shouldn’t be ignored. We made each other laugh. We had just enough in common but also opened each other to things we wouldn’t have experienced otherwise. We’ve had our ups and downs like everybody else, but we preferred the ups, naturally, so we worked on seeking them out and sustaining them. We were lucky to find each other!

And here we are ~ retired together. I reminded The Husband yesterday that I used to tell him I wouldn’t let him retire because he’d drive me crazy! But he drove me crazy even when he wasn’t retired, so there really hasn’t been a drastic change, LOL. And to be fair, I’m sure that crazy thing goes both ways ~ I know I’m not easy to live with 😊

When we were younger, we loved going to the Black Angus steak restaurants. We liked their food and we had fun there. The booths used to have high backs and we could laugh without bothering anyone else. It was our place for special celebrations, so when we were thinking about this anniversary, Black Angus was the natural choice. We hadn’t actually been to one for ten years, when we sought out the nostalgia of the place for our 35^th anniversary.

I joined a No Kings protest in Chino Hills, CA, in the early afternoon, that I’ll talk about on my Thursday Thoughts post. After that, we took a break at home to see kitties and cool off. Then we headed for Buena Park to celebrate.

Yay, they still have loaded potato skins for appetizers! Those were a must back in the day. I got the teriyaki chicken breasts and baked potato plus a salad that came on a chilled plate – this is probably silly, but I love a chilled plate for salad. It’s kinda classy – LOL.

The Husband had a grilled chicken and bacon burger with fries. He also had the dark bread. I figured I was getting enough carbs with the potato skins and baked potato!

We brought half the potato skins home, plus parts of our dinners, so we’ll have the rest tonight. Like getting two meals for the price of one!

Back in the 90’s(?), we used to go to a British restaurant in Cerritos called Clinkerdagger, Bickerstaff and Petts, where they served really great Crème Brulée. I don’t think we’ve had any since, so we had to try theirs. And thank goodness we opted to share one, because it was huge. The Husband thought the sugar on top was a little thin but I liked it. The vanilla flavor was yummy and I thought the crunchy sugar was fine. Yeah, ok… maybe it could have been a little thicker… But it was still good!

In December, 2019, we were visiting San Antonio’s River Walk and we were stopped by a couple of ladies doing a survey for a club they belonged to. They asked us how long we’d been married and to give some tips on marriage. The Husband said, “Always say, yes dear.” (rolling my eyes LOL) Then they presented us with a Visa gift card for $50! We used it to pay for our meal. Seemed appropriate 😊

So, happy anniversary to us! May you find your perfect person and work hard to maintain your happiness and security with them!