1 dozen years

Today, Mr. Crackers & I celebrate 12 years of wedded bliss. As Mr. Crackers pointed out in the car yesterday, that's 84 years together in dog years. Yep, twelve long years. I have to say that the last 12 years have been good ones. Sure, there have been fights, misunderstandings, name calling, and stress filled moments, but overall I feel blessed to have met & married such a good man who is also a great husband, friend and father.

In honor of this momentous occasion, I thought I'd do a small photo montage from our wedding day back in 1997.


We'll start off with the traditional bride & groom shot. Look at those two skinny youngsters will ya? That's us, 12 years and 5 10 , OK probably more than 15 pounds lighter.

There are my girls...Kelly, KK, Linda & Michelle. I'm happy to say I still keep in touch with all of 'em. Lovely ladies, aren't they? And I'm sure all of them wore that bridesmaid dress again and again - it was so versatile. Right?

The men! Other than the gentleman on the far right (my father in-law & Mr. Crackers' best man) we honestly don't hear from these guys too often. They are a handsome group though...

Since this is a photo montage, I'd be remiss if I didn't note here that our photographer was a really nice man, but a bit of a nut job. He was an older gentleman, -I'd put him somewhere in his early to mid 70's when he shot the pictures for our wedding. I liked him a lot, but you can tell that he really hit his photography stride in the mid 1970's. If you doubt me, please look at the next couple of pictures & see what you think. Many of our wedding pictures feel more like we got married in 1977, instead of 1997.

I think his strongest influences may have came from film...

Saturday Night Fever was probably a favorite of his...

As were the Godfather films. Geez, is it just me or does this look like a mafia wedding?

Of course, even though he may have had strong stylistic influences that pre-date my wedding, he did a bang up job of catching all the fun at the reception.

Mr. Crackers' family has a tradition that must be performed at every family wedding. They request Tina Turner's classic Rolling on the River & then they all lay down on the dance floor and roll around. They also hit the decks for the song Rock Lobster from the B-52's. I'm not sure which song is being played in this picture, but it seems like everyone's having a rip roaring time.

Even Mr. Crackers got in on the action... Step back ladies, he's taken!

One thing I remember clearly about the wedding (although most of it is honestly just a blur) is the fact that instead of clinking glasses, people had to serenade us if they wanted us to kiss during the reception. I can't remember whose genius idea this was, but I was really happy to avoid the constant sound of silver being clanked against glassware. It was a blast, and we heard all kinds of songs ranging from the Barney theme song to favorites of the WWII crowd. In the picture above my friends from high school belted out my Alma Mater's fight song. Not to be outdone, Mr. Crackers' friends returned the favor with their fight song 15 minutes later (of course it needs to be said that I think my friends did a much better job. Of course they were working with a better fight song. Biased? Who, me?). Romantic? Not really, but it was a lot of laughs.

Looking back through the pictures from that day reminds me of how much fun we had at our wedding -- but the 12 years since have been even better. I can't think of the right words to sum up all of the joy that has come from our time together -- two beautiful children, a comfortable home close to both of our families, a forever friend to share my life with. All I can think to say is ...Thank you for twelve wonderful years Mr. Crackers. I love you very much!