seventeen

Seventeen years ago was quite some time.

In human years, that kid is almost ready to graduate high school and hopefully flee the nest.

I won’t have to worry about that.

Not with this one.

Seventeen in these years marks the time passed since our first date.

Yes, I’m “those” people. I celebrate this, always will. We were together for 9 years before tying the knot, so why let all of that time go uncelebrated. One of the many perks of a non-traditional relationship. I’ve told you all this before, so it’s nothing new.

Our time together has seen challenges – death, disagreements, major life changes like cross country moves, career changes, the pandemic, but here we are. Laughing more than we ever did. Looking forward to tomorrow more than we ever did. Adventuring more than we ever did. Pretending not to adult while also loving the perks of being an adult more than we ever did. Loving more than we ever did (at least, I’m pretty sure he feels the same).

We toyed with the idea of a nice dinner out, to celebrate, but aren’t we all too tired for that these days? We’ll be lucky if we make it to the fancy grocery store tonight to get our favorite stinky cheeses (yes, 40 year olds have favorite stinky cheeses) and our favorite salamis (do I need to repeat myself) to share with a nice bottle of wine or two. We might settle on pizza in front of HBO Max for the evening. The important part is that we’ll be celebrating no matter what the setting.

I think that’s come with years and age.

Just celebrating in the small moments and being 100% content with that.

However, I won’t pretend we don’t do it big. In a couple of weeks we’ll be settling into our seats at Madison Square Garden for the first of 2 nights of concerts there. We say that’s in celebration of our upcoming wedding anniversary and my birthday, but we all know we’d be there even if there wasn’t a big reason to celebrate. It’s been a while since I’ve been to NYC, and even longer since I’ve been there for non-work related reasons. Any recommendations from those who’ve been?

So tell me, are one to celebrate all of the things, even if in small ways, or do you tend to let them pass you by without a blink only to remember as you’re fading off to sleep at night?