Five years
Five years ago tomorrow, Petunia and I had our civil union in Vermont.
Picture it: Mud season, barren trees, chimney smoke, and the smell of snow. We took a photo of ourselves by the car that morning and several more at rest stops along the way. When we reached our destination, we stopped at the town hall to sign our papers, give the clerk a violet plant, and take a few more photos.
We'd chosen to stay at a B&B directly across from the town green. Lady, a big Lassie of a collie, greeted us as we pulled up by the barn, and we were welcomed warmly by Sandy and Ron, the innkeepers. When Ross, our justice of the peace, arrived at the house, the three of us chatted for a minute or two before heading into the library. We had our ceremony there, just the two of us and Ross, and I could barely get through my vows for all my tears.
When it was over and we were officially joined in civil union, Sandy met us in the library with a huge chocolate-orange angel food cake she'd made as our wedding cake. She also brought us a bottle of champagne, a wedding gift from the other B&B guest that weekend. Their generosity made our celebration even more joyous.
The next morning, Sandy made us an amazing country breakfast and told us all about the local attractions. She suggested we head up to Middlebury for a little shopping, then take the scenic highway back home. We followed her advice, and we spent a joyful day traipsing around Middlebury in search of civil union mementos. When we saw some mugs from Bennington Pottery, we bought them to remind us of our time at Sandy and Ron's. Later, we bought some hand-blown glass suncatchers, thinking they'd be a bright and happy reminder of our civil union. We took a long and winding road back to Massachusetts, and we stopped at many covered bridges along the way.
It's hard to believe that five whole years have passed since our civil union; in many ways it feels like we made that trip just a couple of weekends ago. In other ways, it feels like we've been married at least twice that long. It's funny, too--folks always want to know which of our 3 ceremonies we celebrate as our real anniversary. Petunia and I are big romantics, so we celebrate all 3: our civil union in March, our church wedding in October, and our legal marriage in May. Of all of these dates, our civil union was the first time we publicly declared our love to each other, so it will always have a special place in my heart.
Picture it: Mud season, barren trees, chimney smoke, and the smell of snow. We took a photo of ourselves by the car that morning and several more at rest stops along the way. When we reached our destination, we stopped at the town hall to sign our papers, give the clerk a violet plant, and take a few more photos.
We'd chosen to stay at a B&B directly across from the town green. Lady, a big Lassie of a collie, greeted us as we pulled up by the barn, and we were welcomed warmly by Sandy and Ron, the innkeepers. When Ross, our justice of the peace, arrived at the house, the three of us chatted for a minute or two before heading into the library. We had our ceremony there, just the two of us and Ross, and I could barely get through my vows for all my tears.
When it was over and we were officially joined in civil union, Sandy met us in the library with a huge chocolate-orange angel food cake she'd made as our wedding cake. She also brought us a bottle of champagne, a wedding gift from the other B&B guest that weekend. Their generosity made our celebration even more joyous.
The next morning, Sandy made us an amazing country breakfast and told us all about the local attractions. She suggested we head up to Middlebury for a little shopping, then take the scenic highway back home. We followed her advice, and we spent a joyful day traipsing around Middlebury in search of civil union mementos. When we saw some mugs from Bennington Pottery, we bought them to remind us of our time at Sandy and Ron's. Later, we bought some hand-blown glass suncatchers, thinking they'd be a bright and happy reminder of our civil union. We took a long and winding road back to Massachusetts, and we stopped at many covered bridges along the way.
It's hard to believe that five whole years have passed since our civil union; in many ways it feels like we made that trip just a couple of weekends ago. In other ways, it feels like we've been married at least twice that long. It's funny, too--folks always want to know which of our 3 ceremonies we celebrate as our real anniversary. Petunia and I are big romantics, so we celebrate all 3: our civil union in March, our church wedding in October, and our legal marriage in May. Of all of these dates, our civil union was the first time we publicly declared our love to each other, so it will always have a special place in my heart.
posted by Clementine at 12:19 PM
5 Comments:
Hello from Wolsztyn in Poland
Hi! Too bad you missed my naked pregnant belly post.
I love you so much!!!
Happy anniversary! I hope you two lovebirds do something romantic (no tears allowed!)
Ha! I had it on my calendar at work that it was your anniversary tomorrow - I'm not sure when I got so smart to put it in there.
Happy almost anniversary! I'm so glad that the folks at the B&B and everything were so totally awesome. What a great weekend. Hooray for Peaches and Petunia!
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