Anniversaries: A Date to Remember

Many moons ago, I used to go to a neighborhood joint regularly to shoot pool. One of the owners was an older man who referred to his wife of several decades as "The Little Lady." This was a pretty rough place to shoot pool, hence my referring to it as a joint instead of something more fruity-drink appealing, but whenever The Little Lady would stop by, the older man would hurry to her side and escort her to a seat as though the place was the Ritz. He owned a joint where a person could get themselves killed but he sure loved that woman. I remember talking to him one time around Halloween. He said his anniversary was coming up in about two weeks but that he could never remember exactly what the date was - was it November 12th or 13th or 14th? He never could keep it straight. I thought it sounded like it could be a problem, and wondered why he didn't just use one of those miniature Hallmark pocket calendars they used to give out, but he said not to worry; he had it under control. He'd just do what he'd been doing for years. He'd buy a present the first week of November and hide it in the trunk of his car. Then he'd wait for the day when The Little Lady would start looking worried or disappointed, at which point he'd whip the great present out of the trunk with her none the wiser that he had no idea exactly when they'd gotten married. I do think people should be able to remember their own anniversaries, but I've always been charmed by the idea of that: he knew what his flaws were and took the necessary measures to keep his beloved from ever being hurt by those flaws. Me, I come from a line of people who have scary-good memories for dates. So not only can I tell you when my wedding anniversary is but I can also tell you that my husband and I first met on Saturday, August 13, 1983 at 10:30 at night. And I can tell you the dates of many other obscure significant-only-to-me dates in my life but that's enough about me-me-me. How about you-you-you? Are you good at remembering dates or are you in need of some present-in-the-trunk assistance? Be well. Don't forget to write.

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