to Mark::12

There was a time in a department store, the wedding registration scanning "gun" burning hot in your hand.  We stood in front of small kitchen appliances, towels and shower curtains, dishware - trying to figure out who we were and what we would need 'til death do us part.

Do grown-ups buy these?  Could we use these dishes for the rest of our lives?  Toaster or toaster oven?

12 years later, only one lone appliance has survived.  I keep cutting off long strings from our bathroom towels, and the shower curtain screams that it got its style during the turn of the century.  Thanks to 12 years of hand-washing dishes too quickly, we don't have any of our original glassware - but our dishes, even with a few chipped, are still us.

You know, we aren't quite as fresh-faced as we were when we started, either.  Life has made its long, deep marks all over us.  But even with the weathering, I am confident that we were the right decision, and that we will be working together trying to figure out who we are and what we will need 'til death do us part.

Happy 12th anniversary, B.  (In honor of a dozen years, how 'bout some donuts?!)