Anniversary Dinner 2012

Yesterday was our wedding anniversary, and as usual, we celebrate it by going out to dinner as a family. Every year our children remind us that we are unusual because in their circle of friends, there aren’t many parents who have been married as long as we have. When you think about it, it is amazing that we got married at all… given that my father rear-ended Ed’s Datsun 280Z on the way to church. It was a snowy wintry evening and ice, covered with snow, had covered most intersections. As Ed and I slowly came to a stop, he looked in his rear-view mirror and said “Oh sh--, here comes your Dad!” followed by a crash. Just so you can appreciate the car, here we are with Ed's well-loved Datsun... many years ago!

...and just to do homage to our days of being young, in love, and feeling oh so cool, here I am with the famous Datsun...

So I guess you could say that our marriage started with a bang! Quite unorthodox to be sure, but then that’s us…unorthodox people, just a bit out of the ordinary, who after so many years of marriage are still married! Each year we celebrate our anniversary by going out to dinner, with as many children home and available to join in. Of course, they're now all grown, but here they are when they were little...

So this is how I will remember our 2012 anniversary dinner…..conversation revolved around whether or not it was proper to use the modifier “very” in front the of the word “unique.” Opinions at the table were split almost 50-50 as one side argued for and the other against. My position (as a former English teacher) and that of Sophia’s friend Monique, was that “very” is a redundant word and should be eliminated from one’s vocabulary… but the other side saw different shades of unique, whereas I see “unique” as “unique” and not in need of “very.” It’s amazing how long this conversation went on through dinner, and before I knew it my kids were talking (again) about how they had summer projects to work on during summer vacations, and how for years (in their terms although I only remember is as being one summer) they had to study Indonesia. The way Phil and Lili spoke about this summer project makes it sound like punishment, when in reality they simply learned about different countries in the world. When they were little I had hung up a map of the world on the laundry room wall and all through the summer we talked about where different countries existed and where they could be seen on the map. Somehow this then led to discussions of Sophia’s 3rd grade cultural day project, of which she reminded me that she had chosen France to study and brought to school a model of the guillotine which she claims we made together with moveable parts. I confess that I had forgotten about that until she reminded me about it… but I can’t for the life of me remember why we chose to make a model of the guillotine as a 3rd grade school project! Conversations move quickly at the Bishop dinner table… and it makes my head spin just to keep up. Yes, my kids are opinionated about a lot of things… but I’m glad they have opinions, are able to reason well and, not afraid to speak up! While my Dad may have provided the bang to our wedding, it’s our kids who have provided the zest to the family!