Memory

This is a brief little story that makes me smile, which I thought of several days ago and kept meaning to write about and didn't and now I've remembered to:

Wedding anniversaries were not normally a big thing with S. and I. Of more significance was the anniversary of the day we met, which we quietly celebrated in silly ways. This was mostly because it was a shockingly short time after meeting that we were inseparable, and then living together, and then we had The Talk. Except it wasn't really the sort of talk I'd intended, because I'd envisioned this whole exploration of what each of us thought about commitment and monogamy and all kinds of things like oh maybe marriage as part of a wider discussion, and S. gleefully jumped on and said, "was that a proposal?" and I slowly went, "Um, yeah," and he went, "the answer is yes!" and that was the end of the conversation.

We went ahead and planned a vow exchange with a local justice of the peace, and then a couple of awesome parties to celebrate. No hugeness, no impoverishment; just the getting on with things, really. It had functioned as a marriage from about June of that year, when S. got chicken pox and I took care of him through four days of 104 degrees of fever. The start of the marriage had little to do with the anniversary date.

Anyway, so the wedding itself and "wedding anniversary" meant something different. Not a huge thing, more a quiet smile and a "my goodness, it still feels like we just got started." We did do a nifty getaway to celebrate ten years, but that was unusual.

It was actually a wedding gift to each other. I'm a nerd. He was a nerd. We liked the nerdiness. It was good. We never really planned cards or gifts for each other, or particularly expected them - after all, the anniversary of the wedding was sort of anticlimactic after meeting each other and realizing that this was a Very Good Thing Indeed to be grabbed with both hands. Anyway, it was late, and I was all excited. I got him something! He was sort of cheerful. He goes, "I got you something!" I let him go first, I think.

Well, we both bought the same thing. Something we just knew the other would love, and we had to give right away because we were so excited.

It was Myst. Yes, the original amazing graphics computer game. No consultation, no nothing. It had just come out, it was amazing, and I knew he'd love it. He knew I'd love it.

Laughed our silly heads off. Then installed and got the thing running, duh, and played it for a good long while. And returned the duplicate to the store a couple days later.

Just goes to show, for every dorky guy, there's a dorky gal somewhere. Oh, and if you find something or someone that makes you happy, don't be afraid. The happy is what's supposed to happen. Trust it. Trust yourself.