For you wake one day, Look around and say Somebody wonderful Married me. - Fred Ebb

Charlie and I were married 22 years ago yesterday, July 1. Because of our schedules, we had a certain window of time to get married. Charlie was in postgraduate school in Monterey, California. He had two weeks off in June/July.

Our families were spread up and down the east coast, so we decided to get married in Virginia Beach. That way, most of them could attend the wedding.

It just so happens that my birthday is June 30. There was a possibility that we would get married on that date. But, it was on a Friday and we had the chapel for Saturday, July 1. It’s not so bad though. We celebrate for two days each year. One day is MY day and the other is OURS.

Charlie was busy this year thinking up things for my birthday and our anniversary. He gave me a portable ice maker. We don’t have an ice maker in our refrigerator so we have to make sure we keep several ice trays in the freezer. Neither one of us uses a lot of ice, but sometimes we have friends over who can really go through it. Which reminds me that Patti and Bob are coming over in a couple of weeks to stay with us a couple of days. Coming from Palm Springs, they are both big ice consumers! We’ll be ready for them.

He also gave me a gift certificate for a massage in LaJolla! Now that is something I can appreciate. My appointment was for 1:30pm yesterday. Then we were going to go to lunch at Georges, which is right on the oceanfront.

The massage was great, of course. Lunch was on the “ocean vista patio”. It was pretty crowded, but we got a nice table and I don’t think there were any views of the ocean that weren’t good. Oh, and did I say the food and company was great?

It was a very nice day. Later when we got home, we had some champagne and I gave Charlie a gift that I’d had made for him. A friend of mine does custom quilting and I really can’t think of a nicer gift or a more personal gift to give someone than a quilt which projects their personality or memories.

A few months ago when we were cleaning out closets, we came across Charlie’s plaques and commendations from his Navy days. We decided to find out if one of the charities would take them. We didn’t want to throw them away. I called AmVets to see if they would take them and they said yes.

Before we gave them away, Charlie took pictures of them. He was going to make a collage and frame them, which was a good idea. But, I know how things are around here. The collage thing may never materialize.

So, I thought about the memory quilt. After checking with my friend about it, I took a picture of each plaque, etc. and sent them to her to create her magic.

Sure enough the quilt was done on time and I picked it up Tuesday. When I gave it to Charlie last night, he was really surprised. It turned out really well. I also re-introduced him to a clock which had been given to him from his last command. It had been packed away and had never worked. We were going to put it out with the plaques. But, I took it to a clock shop and had it fixed instead. Oh, and I kept one plaque only. It was the one from the USS Arthur W. Radford (DD968). That is the ship he was on when we met in June of 1987.

Charlie's Awards in a "Whimzie Quilt"

So now his clock and his ship’s plaque hang together in his computer room. Poor thing. He’s never been able to have a real “love myself” wall, but the quilt, clock, and plaque are on the wall now. Just outside the door in the hallway hangs a shadow box of all of his ribbons, medals and a flag which flew from his first ship, the USS Nassau (LHA4). I’d say that’s something he can be proud of. I know I am.

Oh, and a final anniversary gift for both of us is a trip to Las Vegas. We will be staying three nights at the Wynn/Encore Hotel/Casino. Ever since we went to Las Vegas with our neighbors a few years ago, I have been wanting to go back to the Wynn. We didn’t stay there, but we did have a drink on the very serene terrace called “Lake of Dreams”. Although it was February and kind of cold, we really enjoyed it.

One more birthday is over and another anniversary. We’ll have to start planning something really special for our 25th in three years. I wonder where we will be then.....

More later–