anniversary

Today, my spouse Helen and I are celebrating our second anniversary in a pandemic and our 28th overall. I can’t think of anyone I’d rather quarantine with than you, dear—and that’s no April Fool’s joke.

Isolating from a pandemic isn’t how I wanted my spouse Helen and me to spend our 27th anniversary. We usually go out to dinner and enjoy having someone else do the dishes. This year, we’re stuck at home, properly distancing ourselves from the rest of the world. Still, our weathering the pandemic together says more about our relationship than a fancy meal.

(I mentioned my 20th anniversary here a few weeks ago. Here are my further thoughts on the milestone, from my Mombian newspaper column.)

My spouse Helen and I recently celebrated our 20th anniversary. Only about six of those years have been as legal spouses—but that just gives us a chance to celebrate both our real anniversary and our Massachusetts “Massaversary” several months from now. (Twice the cake is always a good thing, I say.) Hitting the 20-year milestone, however, has made me reflect on some of the things I’ve learned about marriage in that time, and some of the things I never expected when we started out.