twenty-five years and counting

In honor of our twenty-fifth wedding anniversary did I: a. buy silverplate at a garage sale; b. dye my hair red; c. get a tattoo; d. get a second ear piercing; e. all of the above?

Twenty-five years ago, on November 9th we got married. Ten months after the wedding we had sweet Elizabeth, and three months before our 25th anniversary, Mary, our last baby, left for college. So after 25 years of kids being the focus of our world, it's a little strange to be sorta kidless. Of course, you are never kidless once you start, but still it is different when you are no longer responsible for all or even some of their comings and goings and doings.

To celebrate, we went to Gatlinburg, mainly because we thought we ought to do something more than go out to eat since it was, after all, our 25th anniversary. Gatlinburg is the "Gateway to the Smokies," but has devolved into Tacky t-shirts of the World Mecca. I used to enjoy browsing through the rows of trinkets and souvenirs, but after cleaning through junk at my own house for the past few months and just living long enough to outgrow some things, we skipped that activity. Actually it seemed like a lot of people were skipping that activity, and we wondered how those rows and rows of stores with the very same tacky merchandise stay in business. And how those blocks and blocks and blocks of hotels stay in business. Ditto for all the restaurants.

It was heavenly weather, however, and many trees were still in full color. Our biggest excitement was riding the tram up the mountain to the ski resort, Ober Gatlinburg, which we had never done before, and then riding the slides down the hill! That was a thrill and at least gave us something to tell the kids, Mary in particular, who always wants to make sure we are having the requisite amount of fun together. (The pic of the slides at the top of the page is only a fraction of the length.) Plus Russ got me a lovely aquamarine necklace and earrings, and I got him a Buck knife. I guess you have to have some special treasures to pass on to your grandkids or great grandkids--"We got this on our twenty-fifth anniversary!" So even though we didn't end up with the Gatlinburg t-shirts like we had at first planned, we did help out the general economy. Apparently I haven't changed all that much.

We ended up having a pretty good time. Usually for me if the kids aren't coming with us, I just as soon stay home. Who knows, maybe this empty nest thing will be fun.