Anniversary Story

This is a story I posted on a discussion board back in 2004:

Okay groupies, it's story time,

Once upon a time... Just kidding.

On Saturday, Temple and I had our 5th wedding anniversary.

Since 5 years is a milestone of sorts, we made plans to head up to Pinetop and stay in a rustic little motel up in the pines. On the last paycheck, I set aside money for this, but, as happens, I started to cut into these funds as necessities came up. (You know how it is with kids.)

On Friday, I told Temple that the night-out would have to wait until next pay day. We counted up our money and had enough for a dinner and a movie. Originally, I was going to take her to the White Mountain reservation to see and participate in an Apache sunrise ceremony, but I had a co-worker pass away last week. The funeral was on Saturday, and I was kind of expected to attend.

So Saturday morning, I dressed in my suit. (I never wear suits) And I went to the funeral. Before I left, I told Temple to be ready. When I got back, Temple was dressed and putting on make-up. Aidan (our 2 year old) was taking a nap. I told Temple to hurry, so that we could leave before he woke up.

Temple got this look on her face and told me that maybe we should take him. She hadn't spoken to Martha about watching him. Martha heard this, and insisted that she would watch Aidan.

We went out with the digital camera and took some anniversary photos since I was still in my suit. (I will post one tomorrow.) Then I got out of the suit into something more casual. (What? Did you think I would wear the suit on a night out?) As we got into the car, I assured Temple that Aidan would be fine. Martha came out to see us off and asked if we would be eating dinner out, or if she should leave some for us. I told her we would definitely be eating dinner out.

I started up the ol' minivan. As soon as the engine ignited, we hear a wail and looked up to see Aidan standing at the bedroom window, his little hands and face pressed to the glass, a look of total betrayal on his face. I floored the engine, and we zoomed out of there.

Once we were on the dirt road that takes us to the highway, I saw Temple giving me a dirty look.

"What?" I asked defensively. "If we had gone in to say good-bye to him, it would have made it worse."

Temple agreed with me. (I am always right.)

As we drove to town, Arizona's monsoon season came into full swing. Clouds were boiling over the mountains, and by the time we got to town, it was raining. We had a nice time. We watched a movie and went to a great Sonoran restaurant that opened last year. (I had chile colorado with tortillas, and Temple got pollo asado. I ate her beans.) After we ate, we stopped somewhere to have ice cream.

Then we decided that Aidan had been without his mommy long enough, so we drove home. It was dark, and for the whole 30 mile drive home, sheets of rain were coming down.

I turned off on our dirt road. There were huge puddles and lots of mud. It is exactly 4.5 miles from the highway to my house. 3.5 of that is partially maintained by the county, and not too bad. But the last mile in is privately owned and not maintained. When we get a rain like this, it turns to soup. Some people go "mudding" for fun. I do it to get to and from work.

I was a little nervous, because I have only owned this minvan since March. It has not yet been tested in the mud. When we had our last snow, it got stuck.

"Are you ready?" I asked Temple as we hit the cattleguard that marks the last mile. I buckled my seatbelt "so I don't fall on you in case we tip."

We hit the mud and water, and the engine hummed and the van fishtailed from side to side, and I was cranking the wheel appropriately. I have to admit - I am damn good at driving in the mud. The whole trick is not to stop. If you stop - you are stuck.

We slid into the driveway, the van covered all over with mud. The house was dark and quiet. Temple ran in and then poked her head out.

"No one is home!"

I cursed and checked the time. It was 9PM. They might have gone to my mother's house, half a mile down the road and got stuck because of the mud.

I started trudging back to the car. By now, the mud was caking so much to my shoes, it was like wearing platform shoes.

"Where are you going?" Temple asked.

"I'm going to get them!" I answered testily. I was also getting quite wet in the rain by now.

"No, they are not even here!" Temple said. "They're gone. Martha took the kids and she's at her mother's house."

"What?" I stomped into the house and kicked off my muddy shoes.

In the living room, Martha had set up a small table with two chairs, lace table cloth, a two-tiered cake, wine glasses, fake wine and a note that said:

"To my two favorite people in the world. I have no money, so this is the best gift I could give you. You can't go to a motel, so I have given you the privacy and no noise or no children, just like you were in a motel. Enjoy yourselves, look into each other's eyes and don't worry about Aidan. He is excited to have a sleepover at grandma's."

Temple and I were both very touched. I think I was a little choked up. With the rain coming down, we sat in the candle light and ate cake and smiled at each other.

That's not all. Martha decorated our couch and put a sign on it that said, "Love Seat". She instructed us that we had to sit at least fifteen minutes there. We tried, but I don't think we made it to 15 minutes. :) Privacy is the best aphrodesiac, to a family with so many kids.

It has been the very best 5 years of my life to have these two women in my life. I am lucky.

Moroni