An anniversary of sorts

Today is Bastille Day - but for Harry and me the more significant occasion was deciding to get married. On July 14, 1967, we agreed that we did indeed want to be together forever!!

It was a good choice!!

To celebrate, we went to the Hollywood Bowl and saw Rudolf Nureyev and Margot Fonteyn in parts of Swan Lake.

And it was so long ago, we parked in a nearby residential area and walked into the bowl - and got $2 seats!

My how times have changed!

So much for saying we won't exchange gifts!

So, we pretty much don't give gifts at this holiday time - to each other at least. Except sometimes one of us does anyway!!

This year it was Harry - who not only brought me a beautiful bouquet of holiday flowers, but he also gave me a beautiful coat from Patagonia - the store, not the country!

So, I had a card for him. But it was a very cool card!

And we went to lunch at Market Grill here in Monrovia. Try it if you haven't already.

And we went to the show and saw True Grit. It's a pretty good movie - give it a look-see if you haven't already!!

Looks like we really did more than we usually do. So much for saying we ignore our anniversaries!

But there have been years when there was no time and no money.

This wasn't one of those years!

42 years ago!!

42 years ago we came home from our honeymoon - and visited both of our families. When we got to GH, someone, Leslie or Donna I think, ran out of the house shouting, "There are millions of presents under the tree - and they are all for YOU!!!

You need to understand a couple of things. First, a flocked tree was an absolute luxury that our family had never indulged in. And a flocked tree with "themed" decor was also unheard of in our household. So my siblings were duly impressed when the tree from the reception came to the house for its last hurrah.

And secondly, gifts weren't usually under the tree. On Christmas Eve, you picked a spot and one of Dad's work socks. And you pinned said sock, with your name pinned to it also, on the chair or section of the couch you were claiming. When Santa came, he deposited gifts on your spot - and then covered them with a piece of tissue paper. Apparently that tradition did not last much past my childhood - but I remember it well. And many years later, when I was up late on Christmas Eve, wrapping what seemed like far too many gifts, I was thinking that I wished we had started the tissue paper tradition ourselves!!

Just a little day-after-Christmas memory for your perusal!!