Heaven 17

Today is my wedding anniversary - Mrs. D and I exchanged vows 17 years ago at St. Adalbert Church in St. Paul. I'm not sure what the traditional gift for your 17th anniversary is, although this website suggests furniture, so perhaps I ought to go out and get an end table or something.

We ended up having dinner last night since she has to work today and it's a school night. Those are some of the realities associated with wedding anniversaries - the daily grind often intervenes. Three years ago, we ended up celebrated our 14th anniversary by bailing water out of our basement because our sump pump had been disabled by a power outage caused by a huge storm that wiped out hundreds of trees in New Brighton. We fought off the flood with a flashlight and a plastic Kirby Puckett souvenir baseball cup, bailing the rising water into the laundry tub for hours. It's times like that when you understand what "for better or worse" really means.

One thing is certain - after 17 years, I remain convinced that I am the luckiest guy in the world. Jill has always been a very special person but she is better in every way than she was when we married - she is smart, funny, wise, generous and loving. And we've learned to adjust - you have to be able to change and grow together if you are going to make a marriage work.