Yesterday was our 34th anniversary.

[LuckyCharms]

We went to our favorite Italian restaurant for pizza, and reminisced.

I worked right up to the day before we got married.

There was an onerous tradition where I worked, that I tried to escape, but couldn't. I was in the men's room, at the urinal, and I heard them coming, laughing.

Three co-workers (one of them was huge...about 6 foot 7) entered the men's room, tackled me, and held me down. They attached a shackle to my leg, which was attached to a heavy chain, which was attached to a bowling ball. It was something that no man who was getting married ever escaped where I worked. It was funny, but then again not so funny, because I had to walk around the rest of the day carrying this stupid bowling ball attached to a chain, with a shackle on my ankle.

We had a small wedding, maybe 30 people...but it was very high end and classy. We recalled yesterday how most of the people who were at our wedding have now passed on.

For our honeymoon, we went to Florida...Marco Island, St. Pete, Tampa, and some attractions in Orlando. We ate some great food down there, but we also laughed yesterday because we remembered going to the 7-11 across the street from our fancy hotel, buying some baloney, mustard and white bread, and eating baloney sandwiches on the balcony of our suite while watching people play tennis several floors below us.

We both got sunburned, fried to a freaking crisp. We would spread Noxema on each other to soothe the burn. I called it the "boo boo cream", and made up an elaborate song in tribute to the boo boo cream, which I entertained her with by singing it the entire honeymoon, and sometimes I even sing it today for a laugh.

There was a cabana on the beach on Marco Island. We sat there one night and got happily drunk. When we got back to the room, the phone rang. My friends knew where we were staying. It was my friend's wife calling. They were all sitting around drinking beer, so they decided to call us to bust balls. I made up an elaborate story about how I couldn't find my wife...how we were on the beach at night, and I lost her, and how the police are looking for her...I don't know what to do, etc. My friends wife believed the story, and got upset. I told her it was just a joke, and that's what they get for interrupting my honeymoon.

We met in '88, married in '92. We recalled yesterday how this time of year, we would be getting ready to go on the Grateful dead spring tour...Louisville KY, Foxboro MA, Pittsburgh PA, Albany NY, Buffalo NY, Philadelphia PA, Hampton VA...all over the east coast.

And it seems like yesterday, as we sit here wondering where the hell the time went.

[debm55]

1. Congratulations to you and Mrs. LuckyCharms.

[Phentex]

2. Coming up on 34 for us too in a few weeks. How do you cope

with the loss of friends right now? I'm dealing with this and it's been much more difficult than I expected. It hits out of the blue, not like a long disease where you can kinda say goodbye but the sudden information that the person is no longer here.

I don't know where the time went! But I enjoyed reliving your moments with you

[LuckyCharms]

4. It's difficult, and I understand how you feel.

All of our parents are gone now. So are some friends.

And I can still picture everyone at the reception...their laughs, their good wishes, their warmth.

What you need to do is to hold on to those memories. Because they are the one thing that death and loss cannot take away from you...the memories. They re most important.

And with the memories...it's almost like they are still here with you.

Their energy is still here. Their energy helped form your life, who you are today. So in that sense, they live on.

[Phentex]

6. Thank you

I will try to do that

[LoisB]

3. Happy Anniversary. Here's to many more.

[Emile]

5. Congratulations

[True Dough]

7. Baloney sandwiches

Real people!

Happy anniversary, Lucky!

[IbogaProject]

8. Congratulations

My wife feels solidarity with Mrs Charms as they have both weathered our low blood sugar behaviors.

[LuckyCharms]

9. Gotta hand it to the spouses...

that can weather that craziness!

[Marthe48]

10. Happy Anniversary!

Here's to many more!

[Kali]

11. ha! we had baloney sandwiches on our honeymoon too

we took a thing called the autovia, a one car pulled by a small engine that traveled on the regular train tracks down to Guaymas, Sonora. basically it was a bus that ran on the tracks, mostly locals, not many tourists. at the stops vendors would board selling sandwiches and sodas. white bread, mustard, and orange fanta. funny because you don't see much mustard down there, they are crazy for mayo. after hours on the train, those sandwiches tasted SO good. never cared for baloney until that trip - still like these sandwiches to this day.

[Grim Chieftain]

12. Congratulations! So wonderful that you have had 34 years together.

Best wishes for many more to come.

[Nevilledog]

13. Happy Anniversary to you and your beloved!

[irisblue]

14. Happy Anniversary. Sounds like wonderful memories to have.

[NNadir]

15. Oh, so you're new to marriage, are you? A couple of newly weds?

I had a rather small wedding, I didn't know either of the two attendees, the drunk "preacher, priest or whatever" nor the owner of the Chapel.

When we informed my father-in-law we were getting married, his immediate comment was "I'm not paying for the wedding," which I learned (from watching Moonstruck) is Italian-American for "I don't approve of this marriage."

I described my wedding in this space thus:

For her, the only anniversary that matters is the wedding date, our very tacky wedding in a seedy commercial wedding chapel during a blizzard in Lake Tahoe. To her, we've been together 39 years, not 40.

So, I asked my wife if we could do something special for "my" 40th anniversary with her.

As for the two weddings my father-in-law did pay, they had a 50% success rate, one ending with a rather nasty divorce.

You have spoken highly of your wife in this space, and there is nothing, absolutely nothing, as wonderful as a strong marriage, and I'm very happy for you inasmuch as you know what I know.

Congratulations to the newly weds.

[ProfessorGAC]

16. Congrats!

Our 46th is 2 weeks from today.
We share a March anniversary!

[yellow dahlia]

19. Thanks for sharing your story.

Happy Anniversary to you both. You must be lucky!