Seven Years

Today is my wedding anniversary. As it happens, today is also Labor Day. I have a paid day off away from the office and intend to celebrate my anniversary with my wife and daughter.

Today marks seven years of marriage, traditionally the “wool” or “copper” anniversary.

I concluded that gifting my wife with a full set of copper kitchenware might send the wrong message on this important day. (Though as I write this, I have been up for more than two hours and still no one has bothered to come downstairs and cook my breakfast!)

Still, I am glad we got through the “iron” anniversary last year. That was a difficult one to shop for. Once I had (wisely) eliminated the electric iron, my options were few: a branding iron, a steam locomotive, an anvil.

Other anniversaries to note on this date:

· King Louis XIV of France was born in 1638.
· In 1774, the first Continental Congress met in Philadelphia.
· Jesse James was born in Kearney, Missouri, in 1847.
· In 1975, Lynette “Squeaky” Frome, a follower of Charles Manson, attempted to assassinate President Gerald Ford.

It’s comforting to know I will never forget the date of Squeaky’s pathetic attempted shooting of the president.

Anniversaries are nice. I enjoy thinking back on my wedding day.

We were married in Columbia, South Carolina on Saturday, September 5, 1998, gathered together with our friends and family. And while we were enjoying our nuptials:

· “Matlock” and “Diagnosis Murder” director Leo Penn (father of Sean) was dying.
· Americans were seeing There’s Something About Mary in droves.
· Mark McGwire was about to slug his 60th home run of the season.
· The Seattle Mariners were beating the Orioles at the Kingdome.
· Anthony (C-3PO) Daniels was telling his fans at SCI-FI.com, “I bumped into Harrison the other night in my local restaurant. We chatted, and he asked me what I would recommend. I told him the John Dorry with Aubergine caviar. Perhaps he thought I was a waiter.”
· President Clinton was concluding his trip to Ireland.
· The University of South Carolina Gamecocks were beating the Ball State Cardinals at Williams-Brice Stadium.
· Bob Newhart and Raquel Welch were celebrating birthdays, but most likely not with one another.

Happy seventh anniversary, darling!