I Thought One Was Enough

On our 1st anniversary, San Geraldo and I catered a huge party at our place in Boston. We invited everyone we knew in town. Most came. I think many figured it would be the one and only anniversary we'd ever have. Some, I'm sure, were surprised we had lasted even that long. I know San Geraldo and I were both pretty impressed with ourselves. Neither of us had had a year-long live-in relationship. Before San Geraldo, I couldn't even stand having a roommate. I never imagined I could survive sharing a home, not to mention an entire life, with someone else. Especially not someone so much larger than life.

SEATTLE, 1982. THE MAGIC TEN MONTHS IN. (I WONDER WHAT I WAS THINKING.)

Nine years later, on our 10th anniversary, we catered a huger party at our home in Guilford (we had already lived together in Boston, Massachusetts; Marina del Rey, California; Washington, D.C.; and New Haven and then Guilford, Connecticut). Ten friends who had been there for the 1st anniversary returned for the 10th. Ten years seemed like an amazingly long time to be together.

Today is our 32nd anniversary, which is well-timed because one of my recent Spanish lessons included the phrases, "Nos casamos hace [treinta y dos] años" or "Llevamos casados [treinta y dos] años" (We have been married [32] years). In these additional 22 years, we've been through life in San Diego, San Francisco, Palm Springs, Santa Barbara, Las Vegas, Irvine, Sevilla, and now Fuengirola.

We've struggled and thrived (over and over again). We've grown. We've become more relaxed and easy going. We've become more set in our ways (and, in San Geraldo's case, more crotchety). We've become more open-minded and more opinionated. We have evolved. We have reverted. We are, neither of us, entirely, the men who started.

Happy Anniversary to my very own San Geraldo who has made life, although not always easier, so much richer — and better and more worthwhile — than I knew it to be.


From "Into The Woods"


"Into the woods.
Then out of the woods.
And happy ever after!"