Anniversary

We celebrated our 36th anniversary today, not expecting it to be one of the best anniversary celebrations we've ever had.  We always have a fun time no matter what we're doing, and we've celebrated numerous anniversaries on or during a Thanksgiving celebration.  Last night we talked about what we had on the menu for supper and R said we should just go out to dinner and celebrate.  We decided on a local restaurant that has good food and a nice atmosphere and I was excited about the prospect all day.

I wore a nice wool skirt and matching sweater to work today and felt pretty spiffy I must say.  But because the weather has turned cold I was chilly even with my tights and boots, so when I got home tonight R suggested I put on some comfy jeans and a sweater while he showered and changed from his greasy work clothes.  When he came downstairs he was dressed in a shirt and tie, dress slacks and wing tip shoes.  I was surfing on my iPad and didn't look up right away, but when I did I saw that he had deliberately dressed up to surprise me.  I offered to change so we were dressed a little more consistently, but he said no, that he was dressed up for me in the same way I was usually dressed up for him.

I thought that was about the sweetest thing I'd ever heard, and we went out the door with him looking nicer than usual and me in a sweater and black jeans.  We were chatting and laughing and enjoying the start of our evening when my phone rang while we were on the way to the restaurant.  My daughter (J) called and wished us happy anniversary, asking if we were going out to dinner.  I told her we were, and told her where we were heading.  She said she was on her way into town...and was meeting friends...at the exact same restaurant! What are the odds we end up at the same place on the same night when we live in different cities?  I told her to be prepared because her dad looked nice and I was not as dressed up.  She said that was sweet.  She also said she had a gift for us for our anniversary which was unusual, and she was planning on dropping it by the house but would take it to the restaurant instead.

We arrived at the restaurant and got a nice booth off to the side.  R looked around for the other girls who were due to arrive earlier than J, but didn't find them.  When our waitress came, she asked if we were celebrating something special and R told her it was our anniversary (I found out later he had tipped off the hostess who probably relayed it to our waitress so she would ask).  We ordered a bottle of wine and figured out what we wanted for dinner.  The wine was served and shortly after the group of friends arrived and were heading to a booth across the room.  One of the girls looked over and saw us and then the group came our way to deliver hugs and exclaim "What are you doing here?!"  We explained that we spoke with J and neither of us knew the other was coming.  I also explained why R looked so nice and I didn't, and they too thought it was sweet.

They went to sit down at their booth and soon our food was delivered by our really nice waitress.  She told us she needed to let us know that the table next to us was paying for our bottle of wine and another table was going to pay for our dessert.  What?!!  We couldn't believe it.  We said we could guess who was paying for our dessert (the girls) but we didn't know the people at the next table who paid for our bottle of wine. When the server left, we went to the next table to thank them.  It was a young couple, probably in their 30's, and we ended up hugging them and telling them how special their gesture was.  R asked if they were married, and they said since April.  Oh my gosh -- newlyweds buying a bottle of wine for this old, 36-year married couple!

We sat back down and ate our dinner, grinning like a couple of goofs, wondering how the evening could get any more special.  After a while, our daughter arrived and was soon at our table with a present.  We looked at the cards that each of her kids had made and they were adorable.  Adorable!  Then we opened the gift and it was a lovely watercolor of our sweet little bungalow where we raised the kids until the last was in middle school.  It was just perfect.  A perfect gift at the end of a perfect dinner to top off a perfect day.  I teared up, J teared up, even the waitress teared up when I showed it to her.

On our way out, we stopped by the girls' table to thank them for dessert (apple cobbler!) and show them the painting.  The entire evening was so fun and so special, and completely unplanned.  We were still grinning like goofs when we got home.  We decided that our 36th anniversary would go down as one of the best, and it would never be duplicated because everything that went down was a happy accident of time, place, and people.

And that's okay.  The memories are just as great as the evening itself!