No Small Anniversaries

Not our rings. Mine are prettier. : )

Friday we celebrated our 11^th anniversary. My amazing husband came home from work dressed to the nines and with beautiful jade roses in hand. We had a festive dinner at home (because we cook better than 99% of what we can get out around here) with wine from our private stock, and it was amazing. (Shockingly, we didn't feel the need to get each other anything made of steel, despite the fact that it is the traditional gift for 11^th anniversaries.)

My Prince got a lot of funny looks for his efforts to spoil me. Apparently, people don't think anniversaries are particular worth celebrating unless they are “big” years – 10 years, 25 years, 50 years. Considering how many people of our generation never marry at all – or see their marriages dissolve into messy, nasty divorces in only a few years – this strikes me as ridiculous. We don't celebrate birthdays that way. Love is a precious thing every day. Why wouldn't it be worth stopping once a year to fully and properly celebrate something precious? To recognize and reaffirm it's value?

Saturday morning, we woke up to news of the terrorist attacks in Paris and I couldn't help but think how many people will never get another chance to celebrate their anniversary with the person they loved. I wondered how many people went to bed (or sat awake, unable to even think of sleep) thinking of every opportunity to show their loved one how cherished and special they were that was lost or neglected in the last year, simply because no one knew how little time was left.

None of us are promised tomorrow. As Thanksgiving approaches and we're all the more aware of the people and things we are thankful for, may I encourage you to intentionally carve a few minutes out of your days to celebrate the people you love? To put on your good clothes, dress up your table, pull out the good china, and toast the good in life that is so very worthy of celebrating? Because if love truly is the precious gift we know it to be, then there are no small anniversaries.