seven years with mhb

Our anniversary was one week ago today. Joe and I celebrate by exchanging the traditional anniversary gifts {first - paper, second - cotton, and so on...}. The seventh anniversary is copper. This proposed quite a conundrum for me. Joe, however, is pretty creative. He gave me an iPhone (my first) which, you may be surprised to know, contains 14g of copper. Yeah, smooth of him.

I gave him a solid copper bar keychain I found on Etsy, engraved with special info on all four sides. I also gave him copper tumblers. Ok, the copper tumblers are kinda for both of us, but I knew he would like them. I thought having something like that would be a special reminder of our seventh anniversary and a topic of conversation around the table for years to come. I only wrapped one:

It was a very real celebration. No fancy dinner or extravagant trip. The kids had a holiday from preschool and were home all day and extra whiny at the dinner table. But afterwards, we put on our wedding clothes (sort of) and lit our wedding candle and danced. The kids danced, too. Everyone was happy.

We waltzed to "Moon River" just as we did that wonderful night on the water beneath a big white tent, surrounded by those we love.

This year reminded us that there are no guarantees. Blessings abound and we must spend our lives being grateful. It was quite a year for us and a big test of our marriage and the strength of our love. We passed, and are closer for it. Happy seven years, HB. Thank you for loving me and for being the best husband and father I could ask for. God is so so good. I love you always.