#MicroblogMondays: 35

Today is our 35th (!!) wedding anniversary!  And -- like most things so far this year -- it hasn't unfolded exactly the way we hoped. 

Usually on our anniversary, we'd at least go out for a celebratory dinner... and we've always made a point of doing something a little more for those anniversaries divisible by 5 or 10: 

• For Anniversary #5, we stayed at the Royal York hotel in downtown Toronto and had a swanky dinner (complete with orchestra & ballroom dancers)(NOT including us!! lol) in the hotel's Imperial Room. 
• For 10, we spent the weekend at Deerhurst Resort in the Muskoka region (cottage country).  
• At 15, we went to the Briars for the weekend, another cottage country resort on Lake Simcoe.  
• 20: three nights in Niagara-on-the-Lake, staying at a swanky B&B (which sadly is no longer in operation), touring a winery, going to the theatre and (of course) visiting the nearby famous falls.  
• On our actual 25th wedding anniversary, we went to see the stage musical "Rock of Ages" and spent the night at the King Edward Hotel downtown. In September, we headed to Nova Scotia for a week. 
• We returned to Deerhurst Resort for anniversary #30.  

(You can see all my anniversary-related posts here.) 

I didn't have any concrete plans in mind for this one earlier in the year, but I assumed we'd do something similar -- a trip somewhere, perhaps -- back to Banff, where we spent part of our honeymoon? PEI? Newfoundland? Montreal? New York? Maybe even (finally!) to the U.K. or Italy for a few weeks, on our own or with a tour of some kind??  

Then along came COVID --  and so much for any thought of going anywhere, even out for dinner. :(  We could, of course, have made a reservation for a restaurant patio somewhere -- they're open hereabouts -- but neither dh nor I are quite ready to do that yet. 

We decided we'd order takeout from our favourite Italian restaurant... only to learn that they're not open on Mondays (!).  

So this afternoon (when it's hopefully less busy/fewer people around), we're treating ourselves to our first gelatos of the season/year (we'll eat it outside of the shop). (The forecast is 32C/90F -- not counting humidity -- and sunshine.)  And tonight, we'll order in from another favourite restaurant that recently reopened for patio dining and takeout/delivery (and offers half-price bottles of wine for takeout orders, lol).  And then hopefully find something good on TV/Netflix to watch.

Over the past 35 years, we've endured some of the hardest things a couple can go through: stillbirth, infertility, acceptance of permanent involuntary childlessness, anxiety and depression (both of us), job loss (x2!), and the loss of a parent. There were times (especially in those early years) when we were flat broke, and up to our eyeballs in debt.  

But we've also had a lot of fun. :)  We've laughed a lot together, travelled a bit, been to some great movies & plays & concerts together (Springsteen, twice), and spent umpteen hours browsing in bookstores (something we both love to do). We've watched two awesome nephews grow up from babies to fine young men, get married, and just this past year, we met our first great-nephew. :)  We've lived in some pretty nice places:  a charming old apartment in the city's upscale midtown district, a cozy suburban house and now a condo. 

We're still here, still together, still healthy (crossing our fingers and knocking wood!). And we hope we'll have many more opportunities to celebrate many more anniversaries. (But hopefully without the shadow of COVID hanging over us...!)    

Who could have imagined THIS back in 1985??!  

Let nothing (including masks) stand in the way of true love, lol. 

You can find more of this week's #MicroblogMondays posts here.