HAPPY ANNIVERSARY TO MY WONDERFUL FELLA!!!!!! TEN YEARS 2013 is a special year for Tony and me; in which we celebrate many wonderful anniversaries. Ten years ago, on February 26th, at 8:30 PM, Tony walked through my door for the first time. Although we had been speaking to each other for a few months, this was our first face to face meeting; and apparently, it went pretty well! Who would have believed that I - 52 year old Jude from Brooklyn - could fall so insanely, absurdly, ridiculously in love!!! I knew it the first time I looked at him. I REALLY knew it the first time he kissed me - which was about 3 seconds after the first time I looked at him! This was also the day we moved in together. It wasn’t planned - he just came for the weekend, and never left! Ten years ago in May, we took a drive to the city, and added a sweet, new addition to our little family - a precious 8 month old puppy we renamed Molly; which she began to respond to, almost immediately. Apparently, even SHE knew her name couldn’t really be Princess!!! It took me all of 12 seconds to fall in love with her; Tony took a little bit longer. She had been neglected, rather than abused; and on the way home, she sat on Tony’s lap in the back seat. I’ll never forget the expression on her face… frightened, confused, worried… will they be nice to me? will they feed me? will they hurt me? After just a couple of days with us, and some good home cookin’, that expression vanished, and we never saw it again! We two had become three, and there was no looking back! Ten years ago in June, Tony proposed to me… in the kitchen! He had already proposed (and I had already said “yes,”), but that was before we had actually met. This was the face to face proposal - the REAL proposal. I was cooking dinner - apparently, this really IS the way to a man’s heart! It never bothered me that he didn’t get down on one knee, because at our age, there was no guarantee that he’d get back up! With shiny new engagement rings on our fingers, we celebrated at our favorite local diner, that evening. Our waitress, who had been our waitress many times before, saw us looking at our rings and congratulated us. After dinner, she and the owner came back to our table and had a piece of cheesecake with a lit candle in it, for us! It was lovely! Ten years ago, on September 5th, Tony and I got married, by the Justice of the Peace in the downtown Brooklyn courthouse. And even though she performed marriages dozens of times a day, she made it feel special, and seemed truly happy for us. We stepped out of the courthouse, both of us beaming, me still holding my bouquet. “LOOK!” we heard someone say. “They just got married!!!” It was truly the happiest I had ever been. The following day, we had a small gathering at our apartment - my sister and brother-in-law, my mother, several friends - just the closest of the close. My sister unofficially officiated, as Tony and I read our personal vows to each other. It was incredibly emotional - much more so than the day before. And through everybody’s tears, I could hear Tony calling me first his “commandant,” which he then quickly corrected to “confidante!” The following month, we had a small reception, with about 30 guests, at one of our favorite Mexican restaurants. So… ten years. Some of it difficult, most of it wonderful, all of it loving. And when the difficult part reared its ugly head, we held tight to each other. “This is NOT about us!” became the simple phrase that held us together and reminded us both that whatever the problem was, we were in love. WE were an “US!” And so we were… and so we are. Older? Yes. Wiser? Perhaps. Grayer? Absolutely - all three of us. But also, just as in love, or maybe even more so. My heart still races when I hear him walk through the door. I still tingle when we kiss. We still can’t keep our hands off each other. And I am safe and secure in the glow of this extraordinary love. And I know that whatever happens down the line, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, we are now, and forever will be, an “US.” Judith L. Goldfarb ©January 2013
Posted on: Thu, 05 Sep 2013 08:49:03 +0000