First Kiss Anniversary

It’s June 10th, the anniversary of our first kiss, 14 years ago.

This year, he didn’t ask “Are you sure you don’t want to eat somewhere else?”  He knows.  June 10th is always at Olive Garden.

This year, he’ll be driving me (and the three kids over to Grandpa’s) in a different car.  There have been a lot of cars over the years.  Twelve between the two of us; seems a bit excessive, doesn’t it?  But fun to list them all and use them as markers to measure our life together.

Some years I’ve been pregnant.  Some I’ve been nursing.

Some years it has rained.  One year we had a big fight.

Sometimes the beach smells so bad that we don’t want to walk the pier or look at the stinky water.

Fourteen years I have loved and kissed this man.  He is as steady as the tide pulling the water , and as predictable as the delicious salad at Olive Garden.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The beach and waterfront have changed a bit over the years. Beautification projects, playgrounds, a ferry terminal and now a new marina.

Olive Garden hasn’t changed much over fourteen years;  maybe a few updates in the menu and price increases. 

Me and him?  Some things have changed;  he is graying at the temples and I’m carrying some extra weight.  We both have laugh lines near our eyes. 

Just like the beach always has the sand and Olive Garden has those amazing breadsticks…..we’ve still got each other.

Our wedding anniversary is on the 23rd of this month, but I like to celebrate the “First Kiss Date” too.

This tradition got started years ago when were had just started to date.  Although we had been friends for months, it was a big deal that I agreed to go out on a date.  We met at his apartment parking lot and he put a blindfold around my eyes, then drove around in circles to throw me off guard.  At the time, he didn’t know that I have a terrible sense of direction so it wasn’t really necessary. We ended up at the Olive Garden restaurant, about 1/2 a mile from his apartment.  After some delish Italian food, we drove over to Charlotte Beach on Lake Ontario.  We walked along the pier, smelling the algae, hearing the pigeons screech and sat down on the sand to enjoy the lake view.

And then he kissed me. It was the first kiss of my life, on the beach.  It doesn’t get more romantic than that, right?  He sealed our fate with that kiss and I love remembering and repeating that night.  

Olive Garden, Beach, Kiss, Abbotts.  That’s what we do on June 10th.