The rush of Christmas activities has been somewhat more fragmented this year due to my sister-in-law’s sudden passing. In fact, it wasn’t until my Beloved and I were halfway through “our day” that both of us realized, “Hey, today’s our 52nd anniversary!”

Through the years since our wedding in 1969, we’ve observed some with splashy celebrations while others have been quite subdued. When you have an anniversary during the holidays, you learn to adjust. Many other events take precedence.

I’m not sure how others observe special dates. In the past, Hallmark cards were standard fare. (Is that true today? I’m not so sure.) For my Beloved and I, we found it challenging to find a card which said exactly what we felt. Oftentimes, I resorted to writing a poem (sometimes silly, often sappy) to commemorate the day.

Since my Beloved and I were with family (in the very location where we’d spoken our vows), we decided to snap a picture in the general area where we’d said “I do.” The building has been redesigned over the years and the exact location is now a hallway! No matter. We marked the day with the picture at left.

Early in our path of 52 years (at present), we had the surprise (more than once) of buying the same greeting card! Of course, those occasions made us realize how we’d seemingly merged into One! Same thoughts, same inclinations.

After this happened a couple times, we made a joke we should make a date to meet at the card rack in order to save ourselves some money. (The price of nice cards hasn’t decreased, you know.) We’d stand there reading the various sentiments and share the particular ones we enjoyed (both humorous and heartfelt).

I can’t recall when the poem below was written, but I used the opportunity to remember our several card rack rendezvous. This year, it’s going to have to suffice for acknowledging the life we’ve shared. I thank God we’re short on ceremony but long on love.