Fireworks

When your anniversary is on the 4th of July (as mine & Hubby's is), you will sooner or later hear some form of the question: "Did you plan it that way so you could have fireworks every year on your anniversary?"

The short answer is no. And, no, we weren't being ultra-patriotic nor were we trying to make an ironic statement by declaring our dependence upon each other on Independence Day. The reason we were married on the 4th of July was much simpler and less creative. My father was in the Army--a recruiter at that time--and it was the only Saturday that summer he was sure he would have off.

Still, there's been no shortage of fireworks over the years of both the pyrotechnic and interpersonal variety--some of them the colorful, celebratory, entertaining kind and some of them just the loud, explosive, migraine-inducing kind.

As I've mentioned before, we were very young when we got married--him 19 1/2 and me not quite 19--and it's tempting to say it's a miracle that we're still together, but crediting it to divine intervention or supernatural accident overlooks the just plain hard work that has gone into our nineteen years together. And it hasn't only been Hubby and I hard at work--there are friends and family members who have seen us, individually and as a couple, through some pretty rough times.

So, yes, it's miraculous but it's a lot more than that, too. To Hubby and all the rest of you--thanks for stickin'.