21 Years

Another December rolls by, another year tallied up. Twenty-one in all. According to the list it should be nickel or brass. But we wake up in the morning for the 21st time and send the kids off to school for about the 21st thousandth time. Just like always, just like yesterday, just like tomorrow. Only this year we have all been suffering a stomach virus, so my daughter stays home.

Having a daughter with a green skintone stay home for the day clutching a bucket, does throw a wrench into any romantic anniversary day. Probably no romantic breakfast, no stroll down the street, no wandering down the riverfront remembering when love first bloomed. But he brings out a bag full of tissue and ribbon and I give him my own gift in a fluffy, puffy Estee Lauder bag. Maybe he won’t know that I have used it before.

I got the reindeer glasses from Kroger that I had pointed out last time we shopped. And he got the beer glasses painted with a bear and a boat. He hadn’t pointed these out, but I really liked the glasses painted with bears and boats. Not quite nickel or brass, but after 21 years, we knew just what was right.

After lavishing me with reindeer glasses he mentioned that I had been sick for a week and I really needed to catch up on the pile or work on my desk. After I finished we could go to lunch and then to my mom’s where she had an anniversary cake and her office staff would sing. I grumbled and groaned, but knew he was right and after checking my daughter’s current shade of green, I went right to work.

I tackled the pile of papers that had stacked up on my desk. I grumbled and groaned, but after 21 years, he really didn’t pay any attention to my distress. So I grumbled and groaned louder and reminded him how much work I had done while I was sick. And getting no reprieve, I grumbled and groaned and told him how much work he hadn’t done while he was sick.

And after 21 years, he barely seemed to notice my grumbles and groans. Lunchtime came upon us and I still had a pile of papers to tackle. I grumbled and groaned about missing my cake. But after a week of a virus, I really just didn’t have it in me to miss our lunch out too much. And my mom’s office staff really wasn’t the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. But after 21 years I did have it in me to let him hear me grumble and groan.

I really did love my reindeer glasses, but would it have killed him for something in nickel or brass? Maybe something antique and priceless that he had found in a shop. Or even a velvet box that was full of maybe ten thousand nickels. After 21 years had I been reduced to an afterthought on the milk aisle of Kroger? He mentioned his glass with the bear and what exactly had I bought him at Estee Lauder? And I quit grumbling and finished up my work.

The workday finally over, I hurried to get changed. He swore that I punched him when I got out of the shower. I told him I was merely toweling off and after 21 years he should know. He said after 21 years he knew when he was punched. I reminded him that after 21 years and no nickel or brass, why should he suspect getting punched when I had such lovely reindeer glasses from Kroger? He mentioned after 21 years and owning no Estee Lauder, why would he suspect getting punched?

Showered and dressed up in our finest, we sat down to our 21st evening together. A family gathered together healthy again after a week of a stomach virus, a still slightly green colored daughter lying close by, candlelight sparkling over our twin bowls of Chicken & Stars soup with Saltines on the side.

Maybe my stomach wasn’t ready yet for bruchetta or steak, and maybe my shoes weren’t shined up for dancing all night. But my family was around me and my can of soup said "serves two." Our 21 years had been good ones filled with family and friends and reindeer and bears. Even without nickel or brass, life seemed just fine, and the two of us still knew what was just right .