Our Ninth Anniversary

The Lovely Sharon and I celebrated our 9^th wedding anniversary last week in the same manner we do each year.  We drove our golf cart out to the 14^th hole of Ironwood Country Club’s South course where we got married.  The day we were married we played 18 holes of golf, freshened up in the restroom and got married near the waterfall on the 14^th hole in our golf shoes and golf clothes.  Watching us take our vows of perpetual golf and a life together were some 30 friends and family members who drove golf carts to the site of the ceremony.

 This year’s anniversary celebration followed the pattern of the other years; the Lovely Sharon organized a bottle of Champaign, a bucket of ice, Champaign glasses, some cheese and crackers and grapes and put them in our golf cart.  This year she also brought along her Ipod and a small portable Ipod speaker. I did nothing, the same as each year, in organizing the celebration.  Once the cart was loaded, we drove in the late afternoon sun out to the 14^th hole.  Once there, I popped open the Champaign, poured it and waited for the bubbles to settled down and poured some more.  We gave each other a quick kiss and clinked our glasses in a toast.

 

After a few sips of the bubbly, the Lovely Sharon got the music going and to my pleasure the song she put on was our song, “The Way You Look Tonight”.  With the sun lowering in the western sky but the warmth of desert still upon us, we danced on the grass to the music.  The only witness to our dance was a solitary duck in the lake in front of the 14^th green

 

As I held her in my arms and did my normal clunky awkward attempt at a slow dance, I thought about the marriage ceremony, about our marriage and about the beautiful location we were at.  It is unbelievable that she has been bossing me around for nine years already. I know it sounds cliché, but it really does seem as though it has only been a couple of years since March 21, 2004 when we said our “I do’s” to a chorus of howling coyotes.  When I look at her today, I can’t believe how lucky I am that she agreed to drag me along in life.   She has put up with all of my faults and short comings with patience and kindness. She is as lovely as she was the day we wed.

 

After our dance, she remarked at how lucky we were to have gotten married at a location where each anniversary we could celebrate at the actual place of the ceremony.  As I thought about it, it occurred to me that each year as our anniversary neared, I indeed looked forward to our golf cart drive to the 14^th hole and our Champaign toast.

 After awhile, we said goodbye to the duck and we slowly drove around the golf course to the 6^th hole, the fifth hole, and the fourth hole with their beautiful lakes and palm trees. It was quiet and peaceful.  We saw birds, the desert in bloom, especially the bright yellows that come out each spring. 

 

 

 

 

Finally, we drove back home where we made dinner, lit candles and tiki torches for a romantic dinner on the patio. We talked about everything and nothing if you know what I mean. We shared a bottle of red zinfandel and toasted some more.   I cleared the table off as she sat at the patio table enjoying the evening. She looked lovely in the candle light.

 

What a wonderful day.