Seventeen years ago today...

the spouse and I stood hand in hand in a little building in Kenilworth, Illinois, surrounded by friends and family. (Want to know how long 17 years is? Let's put it this way: there was no digital photography, the Internet was in its infancy, the spouse was a beta tester for something called email being rolled out by a little company called AOL, "mobile" phones were only mobile if you had strong arms and didn't mind carrying around a bag that felt like bricks, and people actually RSVP'd, via the mail.)

As I recall, there was a lot of hair (seriously, what was I thinking?!), a lot of music (the spouse and I referred to our wedding as "the benefit concert" because the spouse and nearly all of his friends were musicians at the time and got up on the stage and played for, oh, four hours, which is why there is maybe one picture of me dancing with him at our wedding), a lot of food (almost all of which was vegetarian, which my mother thought we were crazy to do at the time and which I was too busy and anxious to eat*), and a lot of Champagne (much of which sadly went to waste because one of the servers stupidly opened nearly all of it near the end of the reception without realizing the party was nearly over), and, oh yes, something about promising to love and honor each other. (Obey? Puh-lease. We wanted this marriage to work.)

Oh, and did I mention there was really great music?

Speaking of really great music, this would not be it, but it seems extremely appropriate considering that today we are celebrating our 17th Wedding Anniversary** and our fondness for The Flintstones. (Seriously, you describe a situation and the spouse and I can probably quote you something appropriate from a Flintstones episode.)



[H/T to the Spouse.]

Yabba dabba doo! Which means... Happy Anniversary, Sweetheart.

*After the party was over, and we had changed, the spouse and I made a beeline to our favorite deli/diner, The Belden, in Chicago. I had a turkey sandwich. Don't recall what the spouse, who was a vegetarian at the time, had. Sadly, The Belden closed many years ago. Thankfully, we are still going strong.

**As far as I know, neither of us bought the other a piece of furniture, the traditional gift for the 17th wedding anniversary -- and apparently we will have to wait until our 20th wedding anniversary to get those new plates we've been thinking about. (We still have the set of Dansk Bistrowear we got for our wedding, even though it's a little chipped and worn down -- like us!)