Life of Wry

That, above, was the logo on our wedding invitations 25 years ago. It’s a Maurice Sendak (maybe I didn’t need to say that) from the cutest little children’s book ever, “Open House for Butterflies.” We also put the logo on T-shirts we gave anyone who helped us throw our wedding party. I still smile at that.

Lucky me, being married to Jim. I can hardly imagine a person who could weather and sustain life with me so well. It is said that couples complement each other, that each seeks a person who balances them out. There are many, many ways in which Jim and I are different — which is to be expected and assumed — and as many ways in which we are a great, great match. But it’s the balancing act I appreciate the most, the ways in which he provides clarity to my muddle; focus to my scatter; principles to my inner devil; answers to my questions and solutions to my problems.

Super bonus for all the things we enjoy together — including each other’s company — and the many ways we’ve grown and become a well-oiled unit over the 25 years.

And an A+ for our best project ever, one Peter Keaton Frame. ‘Nuff said, right? Once we decided to have a kiddo, being great parents and creating a great family became our number one job. Sending Peter out into the world well-prepared and able to be a compassionate, thoughtful, contributing member of the global community is the highlight of my life. Jim’s too. I would not want to do that with anybody else, ever. As I said, lucky me. And lucky Peter, too.

It’s been a great way to spend 25 years of marriage.

Funnily enough, in our cards to one another, we both wrote (lengthily at that!) on similar themes. And that’s a good thing, too!

Here’s the stuff we gave each other to mark the day:

In keeping with tradition, we give each other gifts that reflect the material of the year…. this year silver (duh). Jim always makes his gifts … I do my best to find something that works. Jim found (bought) a quarter from 1956 that was 90% silver. Cool! He stamped it with a 2 and a 5 and bolted it onto that little bridge.

The bridge is an exact replica of the bridge we got married on in our backyard. He made it out of the wood used in making the original bridge, a bridge we had to tear down a couple of years ago when we extended the entire west edge of our house by twelve feet! It was very traumatic to see the bridge go down.. so much happened on that thing (which I wrote about). But Jim saved the wood. Two years ago he made a wooden box thing for our 23rd, and that was cool, but this year’s mini-bridge, using that old redwood, was inspired.

Here’s the original, on our wedding day:

I definitely have better wedding photos… but for some reason, I can’t find our wedding album at the moment. Did find, in the wedding box, a collage of tiny black and white photos shot by our friend Ruth .. so at least the bridge is shown. Also, looks like something out of the last century! (Which it was.)

My gift to Jim also went with the silver theme. It’s a crafty gift I found on Etsy, made by a fellow in merry olde England. Insofar as the family figures are silver (not solid) and sit on a box that says “25 years!,” I thought if fit the bill! (I customized the box’s inscription, but his whole art portfolio comprises anniversary gifts that celebrate family.)

And our cards. As I said above, we each wrote about the things we love about each other, our marriage, and how Peter’s our life’s joy.

So there!

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And we went to dinner. Because: anniversary. No real pictures of that, but here’s one that Jim snapped and sent to Peter. I like it. We ate at Ella, in Sac. Deciding what to eat is serious, brow-furrowing, lip-pursing business (it appears).

Finally: I found these, when looking around on the Interwebs for 25th anniversary ideas…. and they’re kinda interesting! They provide a bit of a glimpse of the era..