Piazza San Marco

I love this picture of Kelly and me ~ it is not a stellar picture of us, but rather the story behind it is fun.

In May 2007 Kelly and I went to Italy for about 2 weeks ~ Rome, Florence, and Venice were our bases.  We had so much fun in Italy. Except for the lunch we had after we visited Vatican City (yes, they let me in...) which involved moving squid. Still makes me shiver. That aside, I think one would have to put some serious effort in to not have fun in Italy.

This picture was taken at St. Mark's Square, Venice on one of our last nights in Italy. It is the standard "hold out the camera take a picture" digital camera picture (do the youth of today know that this "shot" is a relatively new one and not the standard way to take a picture?). We probably took about 20 pictures like this an attempt to get one that was not missing half of one of us.

I look at this picture and think about how we just spent the days wandering around the cities without too much worry. Our lives were pretty darn good. Little did we know that at this time the primary neuroendocrine tumor was most likely already growing somewhere in my body.

 

A Celebration

Every year on Kelly's birthday I asked him what he wanted to do and the answer was always something simple, like dinner out, but with the caveat that for his 40th birthday, he wanted a party.

Last Sunday, guess who turned 40? Guess what we are doing tonight? We are having a party!

When I got my prognosis one of the first things I decided was that I was going to do was to host Kelly's 40th Birthday because it is one of the very few things he has ever asked for for himself. I had no idea at the time how I would be feeling or where I would be in treatment, but this party was going to happen. I told him this. He said no, no, no. I said yes. My yes also had a look with it, which is why I only needed one yes to his three nos.

So, tonight we celebrate! We celebrate Kelly's 40th Birthday (he looks and acts a great deal like he did when he was 39). We celebrate being together with our family and friends for a great occasion. We celebrate all the friends and family who will be able to be here to celebrate with us. We celebrate another year of Kelly ~ funny, sweet, hockey-playing, Lego-hoarding, dedicated, lovable Kelly.

Happy 40th Birthday, BayBay!

Empire Video

"How did you meet?" That seems like such a simple question to answer, but for Kelly and me, the answer isn't that straightforward. The short answer is that we met at a church youth group and worked at the same restaurant, and somehow through those two things became friends. We were friends through high school and college and then a little after. And then we weren't friends. Then we met again and within 10 months we were engaged to be married.

But tonight I was trying to think: "How did we become such good friends?" The answer, as I think it is with many friendships, is that I cannot pinpoint how it happened.

We did lots of different things together in those early years, but one recurring event was going to Empire Video (yes, the one on Glen! With the black and white stickers on the clear plastic cases!) to rent movies. Sometimes it was just the two of us, sometimes it was a bunch of us. But a trip to Empire Video was a whole night affair. We had to get to Empire Video, then wander the aisles to find a movie (and along the way discuss all the ridiculous titles we came across), then figure out food (with Kelly, this was a process often involving different stops), and then get to a house to watch the movie. And when we finally got there, we had to wait for the parents in question to finish the show they were watching because that is just how it was. (Looking back, I think the parents could have given two figs about the show, it was just a way for the parents to hang out a little bit with their elusive teenagers.) I think we watched the movie we selected the same night, but I can't figure out how we had time. I am starting to wonder if we had curfews...

As we wiled away those carefree evenings twenty plus years ago, I had no idea we were building the basis for our marriage.