Our 41st Wedding Anniversary

Congratulate me, readers. Today I celebrate my 41^st wedding anniversary. In spite of that large number, our wedding doesn’t feel like it happened that long ago. I can still vividly remember walking down the aisle to marry him. We’ve had ups and downs just like most people, but here we are 41 years later still together. In honor of our anniversary, I have some trivia to share with you. About anniversaries of course.

1.In ancient times, a man gave his wife a silver wreath when they’d been married twenty five years, and a gold one when they’d been married for fifty years. The Germans kept the idea of gold and silver and decided that each particular year that passed, a different gift should be given.

2.In the US the practice of gift giving was firmly established by the 1930’s. They reasoned that being married for a long time deserved a reward, and the longer you were married, the greater should be the reward.

3.Denmark has a cute custom when a couple has been married for twelve and a half years. They call this anniversary the copper anniversary. Friends and neighbors construct half of an arch which they cover in flowers and set in front of the couple’s door. You get the other half of the arch on your twenty fifth anniversary.

4.A Taiwanese couple holds the record for the longest married couple in the world. They beat an American couple who were married for eighty two years.

5.Married couples are supposed to save the top layer of their wedding cake to be eaten on their first anniversary.

6.Tradition says that if you are married in August, which I was, you are sure to see many changes, and in my case that’s true. Each month of the year has its own little saying.

I hope that each of you finds a unique and wonderful way to celebrate your own anniversary when it comes around, and Happy Anniversary whether you’ve been married for one year or forty one.

XOXO

Elaine