Happy Anniversary to Us!

17 years ago last week there was a huge party in a small town in New Hampshire. I am not sure how many of you heard of it, but I am telling you, it was the place to be! The occasion? The marriage of one Miss Rebecca Sawyer to one Mr. Michael V. Tirabassi.

Our wedding day did not dawn bright and sunny. The remnants of Hurricane Bertha were slamming into New Hampshire and the entire day saw heavy rain and winds. It did not dampen our spirits however and the wedding took place without any trouble in the church that I had gone to growing up. We didn’t hire a professional videographer, but my brother offered to film the ceremony. The highlights of his filming are the many sniffs and snuffles as he cried throughout the whole thing. It’s pretty entertaining to listen to.

After the wedding we had a reception at Granite Rose, a local banquet facility. It was newly opened when we were there, and they did a great job. Ironically, the wedding party in the room next to ours had identical bridesmaids dresses, so a lot of our friends and family ended up at the wrong reception for a while.

But the real party didn’t start until after the reception! My parents hosted an epic lobster/clambake at their house. All you can eat lobster, steamed clams and corn on the cob, drinks, music, friends and family walking planks to get across the water-logged grass and the intimacy of seeking protection under the tents that my parents luckily rented. In New Hampshire terms, it was WICKED AWESOME! That day was truly perfect. We partied away until 11pm at night when Spouse and I had to get to our hotel before leaving on a very early morning flight to Aruba.

It’s hard to believe that was 17 years ago. And on that day, I could never have predicted what those 17 years would bring: living all over the country – east coast, west coast, gulf coast and midwest; 5 beautiful children; quarrels over jobs; owning multiple houses, a sailboat and now a farm; anguish over losing loved ones, ultimately the merging of two lives into one.

It’s been a difficult month and it has also been hard for Spouse and I to find time alone together. For our anniversary he arranged for my wonderful sister to watch all the kids for a night. My sister’s friend loaned us his Jaguar convertible and we drove up the coast to Maine, top down, music loud.

We first went shopping in Kittery, ME. Now you may not think that this was a very romantic thing to do, but when we were in college, Spouse and I would sneak up to Maine every once in a while for shopping at the outlets. So we reminisced about those times and once again had the delicious luxury of just browsing through stores and eating a slow meal. (This is in contrast to our current hit-and-run style of shopping and eating with 5 children).

We then drove to Tanglewood Hall, a small bed and breakfast in York, ME. From there, we did the cliff walk along the York shore, and had a fabulous dinner, lobster of course. The next morning we had a fantastic breakfast and left for my family reunion.