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our worst anniversary yet

(So, I logged in today with a totally different post on my mind, and found this unposted entry from last September, which means a twofer for today and TOTALLY makes up for the amount of time passed since my last entry.)

Nelson and I celebrated our first anniversary this past week, September 6th. We both knew it was coming. We remembered. My mom texted us. Facebook shoved pictures and posts onto our timelines, recalling how much our worlds revolved around us for one day last year.


Speaking of shoving pictures at people, here we are!
The first anniversary is high stakes: it sets the bar for how you'll celebrate anniversaries the rest of your life. You want it to be special, to at least try to capture some thread of the elation you (maybe, hopefully) felt at the wedding. The idea is that, down the road, you might be too far into it - life, kids, work, monotony - to really feel celebratory, so you better take advantage of this SUPER-ALL-IMPORTANT first anniversary and make it amazing.

Ours was....a Tuesday. 

The monotony of the day felt odd. Like we were doing something wrong - it had felt so different a year ago. Real life had been a thousand miles away. But this year, it was all around us. We both went to work. I had meetings. Nelson did some laundry. At least one of us took Fitz out. But we were going to make it special. We planned to meet some friends for happy hour and then drive out to the BBQ place that catered our wedding dinner. It would be celebratory: we'd spend time with friends, which made the day so amazing in the first place; drink craft beer and fancy drinks, which make every day amazing; and, since we didn't have a cake to eat the top of, we'd bask in the memory of wedding brisket and pulled pork. 

Wedding meat!
So we got to the bar to found it closed for the holiday (the ever celebrated Tuesday AFTER Labor Day) and I made sad, pouty faces all the way into another bar around the corner where friends were waiting. After a couple drinks we were ready to cap off our anniversary celebration at Bob's Bitchin' BBQ (we are at the HEIGHT of romance, y'all.). Until we realized we were actually an hour away and it would be 8 o'clock before we got there. A lengthy, emotional (on my part) yet rational (yeah, that was Nelson) discussion followed and we decided to go to another restaurant just down the street. It wasn't special, but we had a groupon (again with the romance), and so we went. And we ate. And then it was over. 

Our worst anniversary yet. 

The thing is, it was us. From beginning to end, it was so us. There's a part of me that wishes there would have been a big to-do. A fancy, expensive dinner and gift after gift bought and delivered with the amount of care and excitement deserved of a first anniversary. But that wouldn't be us. Our actual wedding day wasn't even like that. And I think it was better for it.

I've decided that the first anniversary is definitely NOT for perfection. In time, I think we'll get this anniversary thing down. But for now, I'll give thanks for the memory of a day so joy filled it's damn near impossible to recreate. And I'll recognize the constants of friends and fellowship and good beer that infuse our lives - even on Tuesdays - reminders of a celebration in the midst of the most ordinary.

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