Today is our eighth wedding anniversary!
Eight years ago today we stood in front of a podium in a wedding chapel in Las Vegas and said, “I do.” Elvis was in the building. For another wedding, but still - he was there! I can’t remember what chapel it was without looking at our wedding license.
We had been planning to go to Las Vegas where I was going to attend the National Court Reporters Association Convention. I was a student at the time and needed to make professional connections so I could succeed as I went down this completely different career path from my previous life in mortgage banking. It was Vegas, so we decided he would come with and we would do some fun stuff when I wasn’t attending convention stuff.
This was 2011. The world was changing for the better in Iowa. The Iowa Supreme Court had said that same sex couples could not be denied the right to marry. An odd side effect of this was that I was going to lose my insurance coverage since we were not married, and I was a ‘dependent’ on his health insurance through his work.
We were in our shared office in my condo a few weeks before the trip, probably playing World of Warcraft or something, and he said something like, “Do you want to get married in Vegas?” And I said, “Sure.” And so, the most romantic engagement and acceptance in the history of the world happened. We also loved each other and had been together for 10 years. So that was good.
We agreed not to tell anyone we were getting married and snuck away that morning – I think it was a Thursday – and caught a cab to what is probably city hall but I call it “The Marriage License Place.” We were second in line for our license. Next step: get married.
We walked outside and there were random guys standing around next to black SUVs. So, of course we hopped into one of the SUVs with a total stranger who then transported us to a chapel. Since we were so early, we had to wait for what I will call the Podium Priest to arrive. While we were sitting there Elvis did, in fact, enter the building. Cool.
She arrived and we stood at the podium and pledged to spend the rest of our lives together. I remember being nervous and excited, even if I don’t remember everything that was said. Pretty sure we both had satisfactory answers and were then pronounced man and wife.
The SUV drive took us to a cab stand and we snuck back to the Strip and had lunch at the Eiffel Tower Restaurant in the Paris Las Vegas. It was good and included an amuse bouche which is a bite-size d’oeuvre. This particular amusement for the mouth was a pea shooter. I normally don’t like peas, this was yummy! The people at the next table were confused by it, and we laughed.
The whole day was just fun. I recommend everyone who is in love to sneak off and get married in Vegas and not tell anyone. I think we spent maybe $200 on our wedding and most of that was tips.
I immediately broke the covenant and told my best friend from forever that we had gotten married, but swore her to secrecy. If she told, they also kept it close and everyone was in complete shock when we announced that we were married on April 1, 2012.
Okay. They weren’t in complete shock. They didn’t believe me. I can’t imagine why…
Anyway, I proved to my dad that we were married by sending him a picture of our marriage license and eventually everyone accepted that we were married. Except they were angry that we hadn’t had a proper wedding and a reception. Although I’m pretty sure everyone was just mad that we didn’t have cake. Everyone seemed to just want cake.
Note to self: To keep people happy, give them cake.
I wish everyone going through something like I am had someone to help them and take care of them and attend appointments with them. It hurts me to know that he knows he can’t fix it. That’s what he’s good at – fixing stuff. And cooking. Let’s be honest. We’d starve if I was in charge of meals.
It’s hard to love someone so much and have them love you and know that they are hurting too. But love isn’t just about the fun times. It’s also walking together through the worst times and coming out the other side together.
It’s going to be a low key day. I have to work for a little and we took a walk. Probably go to a baseball game later since we’ve never been to see our local Frontier League team play. I still have to get on the bike for a bit. I’m not allowed to skip days because it’s too easy to skip day after day after day.
Today I am thankful. I am thankful that I am married to my best friend and someone who loves me so much. I am thankful that I can get hugs on demand. I wish everyone were as lucky as I am.