Happy Anniversary!

Like this picture and it's frame, which our marriage is a bit distressed, but purposely so and all the more loved for it.Our son and daughter-in-law arriving for a visit today wished us a happy anniversary and were greeted with blank looks from both of us while we hit the recalculate button and finally agreed that, yes it is our anniversary...another pause to recalculate...our 55th! I take it as a good sign that at least we both forget it at the same time....

This picture of the two us at Kananaskis in British Columbia  in about 2000 was taken just after OilMan retired from Chevron and began his own consulting company. He was consulting for a Dutch company which always had excellent golf outings. There were also 'spouse tours' for the wives, but I, somewhat perversely, decided that I preferred to go for a long hike into the backcountry. I was quite late getting back and apparently had created a bit of an uproar, but all must have been forgiven by the time this picture was taken.

I consider myself extremely fortunate to have had such a long and happy marriage, three great kids and six wonderful grandchildren. We were very young and very clueless about what lay ahead when we met. OilMan was just about to graduate  from CalTech in Pasadena, and I was about to graduate from high school...the same age as granddaughter Julia is now, but somehow we navigated the rough seas and the becalmed moments, learned a lot as we went along and have made a wonderful life together, even if he does leave his socks on the closet floor, and sometimes forgets my birthday. I think he's passed the trial period and I'll keep him.