Sixty Years of Marriage!

[Tuesday June 17, 2008 -- Seattle WA]
Well, the Grand Mother managed to put up with old Grumpy for sixty years. Imagine that! Sixty years of listening to him tell the same story over and over again and getting himself into trouble over "silly little things" like putting a tablespoonful of peanut butter in his mouth just before or right after taking a big bite of the Grand Mother's delectable Lemon Meringue Pie. Of course, Grumpy never admitted to causing trouble for himself; he always managed to find a Grandson whose name he could remember and whom he blamed for his getting into trouble with "Grandma". (This invariably resulted in "Grandma" sentencing Grumpy to "No more Lemon Meringue Pies --- forever!!" Ultimately, she would either forget or forgive and Grumpy would get another Lemon Meringue Pie after doing something extra nice.) Somehow, the Grand Mother managed to survive all these years of frustration.

Grumpy thought a well-deserved meal at a fine restaurant was what the Grand Mother (aka, First Wife) should be treated to. So he planned to take her to the Black Angus at the Crossroads in Bellevue. This restaurant has earned our respect for the finest beef steak and prime rib dinners around.

At many previous anniversary celebrations, we have enjoyed the company of our long-time friends Warren ("Mitch") and Margaret Mitchell. Last year, on our 59th, the reader may recall that Margaret was with us when we went to the Windmill Gardens in Sumner. So it seemed somehow less of a celebration if Margaret didn't come with us this year as well. Both the Grand Mother and Grumpy had this thought, but neither voiced it until just the day before, when Margaret called up to invite us to be her guest for the "big day"! We looked at each other and, in unison said, "YES! YES!! YES!!!"

So it was that the three of us found ourselves enjoying a three-course lunch yesterday at Black Angus.

"Someone" let it be known to our excellent waiter, that it was our 60th Wedding Anniversary, so our two desserts were garnished with the words, "Happy 60th" written in chocolate syrup on the outside edges of the dishes in which they came. A small candle was also inserted in each dollop of ice cream to complete the thoughtful and delicious desserts.

Many happy returns of the day!!