20 Years

Back to work today. Urgh. I did sleep last night, which is unusual the night before. I hate that I don't want to go, but MAN, I don't want to go.

Today is my 20th anniversary. Yes, I was a child bride. Sadly, I don't have a scanner, or you could see how really young we were. Our wedding was very simple. My dress was $300 from Penney's. Fred wore white tails ;) My bridesmaid dresses were homemade (and homely.) Our guest list was small. My mom and her MIL did all the food. We had no alcohol (cost prohibitive). If I had to do it all over again, I would have not done the wedding.

But I would have done the marriage, though maybe waited till I got out of college. Being married, working minimum wage and going to college was a struggle, but maybe we needed that to forge our bond.

I thought it would be fun to compare then and now.

THEN
We had an 11 year old truck and a 7 year old car, both clunkers.

NOW
We have a 20 year old SUV and a 2 year old car.

THEN
A loft apartment, two windows, one bathroom, which had the only door in the place.

NOW
A 4 bedroom house, 25 windows, a garage, 2 bathrooms.

THEN
No VCR, no cable, cheap TV, no computer

NOW
VCR and Tivo, nice TV and a not as nice TV, 3 computers

THEN
3 cats, no dog

NOW
4 cats (none the same), one dog

THEN
My creative outlet was sewing.

NOW
My creative outlet is writing.

THEN
My obsession was music.

NOW
My obsession is TV.

THEN
All my grandparents were with us.

NOW
Only my paternal grandmother.

THEN
One brother, who was best man.

NOW
Two brothers!

THEN
I was size 9, he wore size 29 waist.

NOW
I wear size 16 and he's a 38 waist.

We were thinking about waiting till this weekend (and payday) to celebrate, because we've been a little enthusiastic about eating out and spending money this holiday. But last night Fred came home with a grin and a gift card from one of his clients to Ruth's Chris - for $200!!!!!

We're calling it the 20th Anniversary Miracle.

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18 comments:

Anonymous said...

Happy Anniversary!!! :)

Anonymous said...

Happy Anniversary, Mary--and I love the comparisons; a real walk down memory lane. Hooray for you and Fred! :-)

Candy

Trish Milburn said...

Cool post. Happy Anniversary to you and the Fredster. :)

Marianne Arkins said...

Happy 20th! Woo! Just remember, it isn't the wedding that really matters, it's the marriage, and you guys seemed to have done that part just right.

Here's to 20 more!

Unknown said...

Happy anniversary!

Tracy Montoya said...

20 years? Were you 12? : D

Happy, happy anniversary. Here's to 20 more and 20 more after that, and then another 20 more for good measure.

Anonymous said...

Happy Anniversary Mary!!

Elizabeth Kerri Mahon said...

Happy Anniversary Mary! And I agree, you really must have been a child bride, you don't look a day over 30!

MJFredrick said...

Wow, thanks, y'all!!! I have officially been married half my life. And they said it wouldn't last! I've been married longer than anyone in my family other than my mom and stepdad, and my aunt and uncle.

We didn't get to go out tonight :( Fred came home sick. Bummer.

Linda Winfree said...

I'm a little late showing up, but congrats, Mary! I hope y'all get to use that GC soon! :-)

Gina Black said...

Congrats Mary!! Happy anniversary. :) I don't think a person can celebrate something like this too much.

KATZ said...

Huge congrats, Mary! What an accomplishment!

DH and I married young, too, and we're working on year 10. Time flies!

MJFredrick said...

Thanks, Linda, Sarah and Gina! I hope we get to use that gift card soon, too!

Cindy Taylor said...

Happy anniversary, Mary!

So sorry to hear your hubby was sick. My hubby was sick on our honeymoon ten years ago, so I feel for ya. :/

P.S. I swear, it had nothing to do with marrying me. ;)

Natalie J. Damschroder said...

Congratulations, Mary!

It's funny...I got married only a year older than you did, but did not and do not feel it was very young at all. :)

(Of course, I was out of college, so maybe that's the difference.)

MJFredrick said...

LOL, Cindy! Thanks! At least I still have that dinner to look forward to!

Natalie, it probably did make a difference that you were out of college. And I went from living in my mom's house to being married - no independence in between. I really miss that. I wanted to live on my own, but my mom wouldn't hear of it. Did I mention I had an 11 o'clock curfew just before my wedding? As in, my bridesmaids were making fun of me?

Natalie J. Damschroder said...

Yeah, that makes a huge difference, too. I worked a summer away from home, lived with Jim for a summer, and did an internship at National Geographic after I graduated so I was on my own in/around DC for six months. I would probably not have gotten married so quickly if that stuff hadn't happened, because I'm very independent and would have wanted SOME time on my own first.

11:00 curfew! So funny!

MJFredrick said...

Funny now - humiliating then!

Yes, you had a lot more experiences than I did before I married. I was a dumb little thing :)

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I'm a mom, a wife, a teacher and a writer. I have five cats and a dog to keep me company. I love bookstores and libraries and Netflix - movies are my greatest weakness.
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