A wedding anniversary -- a good opportunity for gratitude.
Today is our wedding anniversary – fourteen years. We didn’t realize it when we picked that day to be married, September 4, 1994, but that date has a very helpful mnemonic: 9/4/94. Almost as memorable as my friend's anniversary; she got married on 7/7/07. I highly recommend having some kind of memory-kicking device; without it, I’m sure we’d never remember our anniversary.
(When we married, it became much easier to remember our parents’ wedding anniversaries, because both sets of parents got married on the same day. Which was one of those little details that made the Big Man and me seem fated for each other. And it wasn’t some popular wedding date, like June 6 – the parents’ double anniversary is March 27.)
The Big Man and I don’t do anything particular to celebrate our wedding anniversary, and we don’t exchange gifts, but even so, I use the date to remind me to stop, to remember our wonderful wedding weekend (for which my mother worked like a dog for a year), and to think about how happy I am to be married to the person to whom I’m married.
The Big Man and I had known each other for less than a year when we got engaged, and we got married a year after that, and I felt like I knew him sooooo well. Surprise! Turns out that I didn’t know him nearly as well as I thought.
But I was wiser and luckier than I knew, and being married has just revealed more of his virtuous and lovable qualities. Phew.
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I saw an interesting post on Be Three, a piece on Weighing Your Options: Fit vs. Fat, about the importance of fitness – more than pounds. More incentives to stick to exercise!
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I totally agree with you on the opportunity that a wedding anniversary offers. My hub and I got married last year (7/01/07 ... six days away from your mnemonically-savvy friend) and this year we were SO thankful we weren't throwing another wedding - LOL - yet we had the experience of a terrific day with all our loved ones in one place, and guess what - we got to keep being married!
and it is funny, isn't it, about being wiser and luckier than one knows - I am ever in the pursuit of what that unknowing knowing part is :) what a fun mystery to chase -
Posted by: Suzanne Carter | September 04, 2008 at 03:09 PM
Happy Anniversary!
Our daughter was due on 27 07 97. Great - I thought, I will be able to remember that so easily. Problem was, she came four days late!
Posted by: Heather Bestel | September 04, 2008 at 03:15 PM
Damn, no love for the personal development blogs list ;)
I'm terrible with dates so I'm going to have to pick an anniversary that is easy to remember for whenever I get married haha. Although secretly I would like to do it on a day that is already a special occasion such as Christmas or New Years.
Posted by: Glen Allsopp | September 04, 2008 at 04:00 PM
I'm another who has a terrible time with dates and numbers - a past boyfriend once had to remind me that it was our six-month anniversary on the day of! Luckily, in this facebook and blackberry age, I can now set event reminders... :-)
candy
carrieanddanielle.com
Posted by: Candy | September 04, 2008 at 04:06 PM
Our wedding anniversary is on April 15th... no way could you forget that!
Posted by: annie o | September 04, 2008 at 04:27 PM
I love mnemonics. Have you ever done a blog or tip list on the subject?
It certainly does make us happy when we remember what we should.
Mnemonics (like happiness) is around us if we latch onto it and connect to our reality.
Posted by: LarryG | September 04, 2008 at 04:38 PM
I'm not very good at doing math in my head, so I didn't want to be in one of those positions where people ask me how long we've been married, and I don't know right away! We got married in 2000, which has made it very easy to remember, as even I can handle that simple math (at least during the 2000 decade - we'll see what happens after that!)
14 years is wonderful - congratulations! Have a wonderful day.
Camilla
Posted by: Camilla | September 04, 2008 at 05:15 PM
Glad to hear we're not the only ones who don't always go for big anniversary celebrations and gifts. We got married the same year as you did, and this year, we celebrated by ordering from our favorite pizza place and opening a bottle of bubbly. Quiet, relaxing, and just enjoying being together, which was the point, wasn't it?
Happy Anniversary to you both!
Posted by: Sharlene | September 04, 2008 at 08:38 PM
Happy Anniversary! It's our wedding anniversary today too - 26 years for us... Here's to many more, for all of us. :)
Posted by: Gwen | September 04, 2008 at 09:39 PM
Happy Anniversary, Gretchen and Big Man!
The boy and I don't do anniversary gifts either - we'd been together for years when we married and it just feels a little contrived to make a big deal out of legalising it. We do have a tradition, though, which is to take a nice bottle of wine out from our cellar and go out for dinner together each year. It makes me happy. :)
Posted by: Helen | September 04, 2008 at 09:51 PM
Congratulations on your anniversary!
When my husband and I were narrowing down wedding dates we first narrowed it down to the month - April. We knew we wanted to get married on a Saturday too. We noticed that April 1st happened to be on a Saturday that year and it just kind of clicked for both of us. Very easy to remember, especially since our anniversary of dating was March 31st.
Posted by: Jennifer | September 04, 2008 at 10:08 PM
Well happy anniversary to YOU!
Ours is on 09/11, a memorable date...
Instead of focusing on other options, I'm going to say it's memorable because I have a friend with that very same birthday!
Posted by: Ash | September 04, 2008 at 10:44 PM
Happy Anniversary Gretchen!!! We just celebrated our anniversary last week, and isn't it special and wonderful to be blessed with a fabulous marriage? I love it! Congrats to you both!
~Monica
Posted by: Monica Ricci | September 04, 2008 at 11:57 PM
Actually, a friend of mine got married on her birthday, which is also Valentine's Day. Try forgetting that.
Posted by: Linda | September 05, 2008 at 06:27 AM
Thanks so much for your good wishes!
Posted by: Gretchen Rubin | September 05, 2008 at 07:39 AM
Its ours on the 7th.
We have a fantastic way of remembering ours. If you need to know please email me via the mail box on my blog (top left hand corner - the one where the bird poops :P)
Its a kicker. I dont want to give away too much as I do blog incognito to a certain extinct.....
Posted by: Jane | September 05, 2008 at 08:24 AM
Happy Anniversary ( a day late). My "big man" and I are celebrating our 16th today! 9-5-92 We've got a couple of years on you:)
Enjoy!
xoxo
tcb
Posted by: thatcoolbroad | September 05, 2008 at 02:56 PM
Happy anniversary! Yours is the same as my parents', which must be an auspicious date - they have been very very happily married for 41 years.
Posted by: Ella | September 05, 2008 at 07:05 PM
Happy Anniversary!
Posted by: Emily-Sarah | September 05, 2008 at 08:37 PM
I married my guy after knowing him only a year and 4 months. I also felt I knew him SO well. 8 Years later we laugh at that. But, I, too, got insanely lucky. He is more than I could have hoped he would be.
Will I look back in 8 more years and laugh to think I knew him well now?
Such a huge source of my happiness, he is. And our kids.
Posted by: Ann | September 06, 2008 at 01:54 PM
We have just celebrated our 36th anniversary. Life isn't always easy, but by sticking by each other through the tough times we are now enjoying the rewards. I encourage you all to stick in there and also reap the rewards of a long relationship :-)
Posted by: Gladys | September 27, 2008 at 03:30 AM