31 Years

Last year on this day, D and I celebrated our 30th Wedding Anniversary. Here we are a year later at 31 years. Today when I arrived home from work, the roses were on the dining room table. I wrote about this tradition regarding roses last year. Each year there's a new configuration; this time one white rose and six reds (the white rose symbolizes 25 years and red counts as one year).

We're going out to dinner tonight and when we get home, we'll open a bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon we've had tucked away since the early 1980's. We have a few really old bottles like this hanging around. I'm always a bit reluctant to open them wondering if the quality will hold up after all these years; in this case 27 years! We shall see. We haven't been disappointed in the past with these oldies but eventually I think we'll find one that has gone beyond its time. I remember buying this Robert Mondavi in Houston at a wine store and thought I'd put it away for a "few years" to mature. It cost me $10.50 back then; wonder what it would be worth now.

On the left is a photo of a photo I shot today with my digital camera. I'm modeling my wedding dress which was featured on the cover of Bride's Magazine in the fall of 1977. I remember saying, "I want that dress; it's the one". I didn't try on many dresses; this one spoke to me early on. As for the gown, it went to the cleaners right after the wedding and has been sitting in a sealed box on my closet shelf all this time. I'm a bit reluctant to open it as well (like the old wine) wondering if time has turned it into tatters or if it has weathered all these years unscathed.

I've decided to test the wine tonight but shan't bother with the gown this year.