There are nine long-stemmed red roses sitting in the middle of our dining room table. And five little kids tucked away down the hall. The last nine years have been packed with lots of life and lots of growing up. Most of that growing up has been done by the adults and not the children. Five kids have a way of growing two kids into two adults.
Nine years don't seem nearly as milestoney as 10 years; but, they are still worth noting.
The roses were a complete surprise since we had already celebrated our anniversary a little early on Friday.
To my complete surprise, I was awakened at 7am last Friday by a tap on my shoulder and a question: "Can you be ready by 8?"
Turns out 8:30 was more realistic. After all, the baby is still nursing and so this mommy's readiness always includes that of Isaac.
I was a little surprised by Dave's wake-up call and my first response was, "Is this some sort of a joke?"
"No," he said, "I've taken the day off." (This is the point best ignored by anyone remotely associated with our board of education.)
It took me a while to believe that he had really taken the day off from work in order to take me out for the day. When I finally decided to believe him I felt absolutely giddy about the day's possibilities.
Dave had arranged for his mother to watch Ben and Joe for the day while he, I and the baby headed to Pembroke for some errands and lunch.
Yes, this made me giddy.
The greatest source of this giddiness was that I had slept well the night before and thus could face the day with a full tank of energy.
I have this frustrating tendency of losing sleep the night before special occasions. This includes birthday celebrations, sacramental celebrations, company for supper, out-of-town visitors - heck, the list is endless. (Something to do with perfectionism, unrealistic expectations and too much mental energy.) And, yes, I lose a lot of sleep.
So, in order to ensure a well-rested mommy, Dave had kept his day-off and his plans for our anniversary a complete surprise. I think that I was actually expecting a crabapple tree!
More touching than the day itself (which was splendid and included some shopping, lunch and, most importantly, some time together) were the accommodations that Dave had made for his quasi-neurotic wife. Accommodations right out of our Individual Marriage Plan.
Any of you who have hung around the teaching profession will know about Individual Education Plans or IEPs. These are plans designed for students with learning disabilities, behavioural problems and so on. Included in an IEP are accommodations that the teacher should make in order to help that student do well in school.
Dave and I now have a joke that we have an IMP, an Individual Marriage Plan, and that he must have checked it before this anniversary in order to make the proper accommodations.
Good teacher that he is, the accommodations made all the difference and our ninth anniversary was a success. Dave's thought behind those actions was so touching to me because it just screamed, "I love you even with all your imperfections and craziness. I love you for who you are."
I am beginning to believe that this is true and for that I am so very thankful.
One day, dear husband, you'll be able to plan something a little more easily;)
6 comments:
How absolutely touching to be surprised in such a way! And no, there's no shame in being giddy about going to Pembroke. You're an Academy student at heart, I think.
Happy anniversary to you and Dave! 9 years is a huge accomplishment, if you ask me. We're weeks away from 3 and even that seems wild to me.
Happy anniversary to you both. I still have my dress from your wedding in my closet - I can't bear to part with it. Also, there's a bottle of your wedding wine at Mom & Dad's which we'll have to get to you before your 10th. :)
I'm glad you had such a lovely celebration with Dave. I loved the part about him surprising you by taking a day off. Francis loved the part about the IMP. :)
(My word verification is "teatoter" which is FAR too close to "teetotaler" for my liking. I want a beer. Of course, maybe it's just about toting tea, which isn't so bad, considering whose blog I'm commenting on...)
WOW! What a beautiful gift Dave is for you, Elena. And, I know that he can only be that gift because you are a similar gift for him.
Congratulations on nine years! I love the idea of the IMP; I knew of the IEP but only experienced the unnamed version as a sessional professor with several students with very different needs. Each of our children naturally had such a plan (unnamed but necessary) in our homeschool. And, I suspect a conscious IMP may have smoothed some of the bumps along the way as Jim and I grew to know our own and the other's needs.
What a great friend Jaclyn is to have kept a bottle of your wedding wine to help mark next year's celebration.
May your tenth year as a family be the most blessed!
Hi Elena and Dave, Congratulations on your 9th anniversary! I have fond memories of the joyous wedding and reception with lots of laughs and dances to the accompaniment of guitar and fiddle. I wondered at one point on how you could dance so well and so long in your long dress and shoes - It was then you lifted the dress to reveal your running shoes;)
Your last nine years have been productive in so many ways. The tangible evidence of 5 little ones is just a part of the blessings from God to you and from your to all of us. We too are grateful. Anne-Marie
Happy anniversary Elena and Dave. I couldn't think of a better gift Dave. Awesome. I'll give this to Jordan to take notes ;)
we need an IMP. also, you need to come to tx not only for corn tortillas, but because here in the rose capital of the WORLD (yes, really), he could've gotten you 9 DOZEN roses for a mere $22.50.
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