I Love You More

♥ 28 years ago today, Al and I dove heart first into marriage. ♥

My third, his first. Was I a little bit embarrassed? Yes. I wanted to do it quietly with no fuss. My friends & family had already been to my big wedding with the veil and the dress and the church.

But Al wanted a wedding. A real wedding where he would invite all his family and friends and wear a tuxedo. He agreed it would be fine if I just wore a pretty dress suitable for a third marriage.

I let Al plan everything. He hired a DJ and a caterer and cleaned out his garage for the lovely cake his sister baked. He made space so the food could be set up properly. He hired people to erect canopy, tables, and chairs in his enormous leafy green yard. A Unitarian minister married us in a little church in town. Then on to Al’s house for the reception. His parents set up a bar in the kitchen and provided quite an array of liquor. A keg of beer got a work out on the patio where later, we danced.

And the next morning, after partying well into the night, he took me to Maui for a week. We almost missed the plane.

♥ 28 years ♥

That’s a chunk of change. Our song is “In My Life” by the Beatles, appropriate lyrics for someone like me who had loved much and perhaps too often. Somewhere in those years, all of our LPs were ruined in a basement flood. Since then, little by little, Al has been amassing a new collection of our old records. He still has a turntable with a fine diamond needle.

When I mentioned that I wanted to buy him a Beatles LP for our anniversary to my neighbor (and new BFF!) she said she had a stack of them in her basement and she’d bring them over and Al could choose one. She would not let me pay for it. Nice neighbor, right? She came over with the LPs and which one did Al choose? None other than Rubber Soul, my favorite. And as he turned it over and pointed, I saw yes, this one is the LP with our song on it. He’s so romantic.