Roger's Blog
A place to put my thoughts...
March 2024
40th Anniversary
03/08/24 11:42 AM
On February 29th, 2024, my wife (Maurica) and I celebrated our 40th anniversary!
Well, unofficially we only celebrated our 10th anniversary, since we were married on February 29th during a leap year (1984), otherwise known as Leap Day. Therefore, this year was only the 10th time we could actually celebrate the anniversary on that specific day.
Why did we get married on Leap Day? No, it was not because I'm cheap and didn't want to celebrate our anniversary every year. OK, so I am cheap but that's not the reason for this. We chose Leap Day so that we could both remember the day. We were concerned that one of us (not just me) would forget our anniversary date, so we decided to get married on an unusual day. Maurica wanted to get married on Halloween but I just couldn't wrap my head around combining the sanctity of marriage with Halloween. Fortunately for me, Maurica was willing to compromise, and we agreed to get married on February 29th. Did the strategy work? Better than we expected. Not only do we remember every year but a lot of our friends and family remember our anniversary due to the novelty of "only celebrating every 4 years." This fact was never our intention but we are amazed every year how many people reach out to us to wish us a happy anniversary.
In fact, we do celebrate our anniversary every year. What is great about getting married on Leap Day is that you get to choose which day on which to celebrate every three out of four years; either February 28th or March 1st. This means we have flexibility if our plans involve activities where we compete with others, such as dining out or taking a vacation.
In recent years, we were fortunate enough to be able to plan a trip around our anniversary, usually some place warm due to the fact that late February in Indiana doesn't offer that opportunity. This year provided our first challenge, since we now live in Florida, which was often the place to which we traveled. Now where do we go?
After making a few suggestions (I tend to be "the planner" in our marriage), we decided to stay in Florida. While that doesn't sound very special, what we chose to do was, at least for us. We decided to repeat what we did on our honeymoon. We stayed in Walt Disney World's Fort Wilderness cabins. Some background…
When we got married, we were such big Disney fans that we took a trip down to Orlando and stayed in these cool trailers in Walt Disney World's Fort Wilderness campground area. As young adults, we both enjoyed being in a "wilderness" area while still having all the comforts of home, and we had a great time staying in the campground and visiting the parks, at which time there were only two; Magic Kingdom and Epcot. Remember, this was 1984. Along with the obligatory bedroom and bathroom, our trailer also included a living room area and a kitchen, which was important because we didn't have a lot of money, so we were able to economize by making some of our own meals. Back to the current time…
Walt Disney World's Fort Wilderness now has "cabins" but the basic layout is the same. We had a wonderful two days in the cabin, and we decided to visit Epcot while we were there. Epcot is my favorite WDW park, so we have been dozens of times over the years. Since we've been there so often, we can actually relax during our visits and just enjoy the atmosphere and people, rather than rush around from one attraction to the next. Yes, they are "attractions," not "rides." How do I know this? This requires more background…
Besides my incredible relationship with my wife, the other amazing thing that has come out of our marriage is our daughter, Kat. Remember how I said that Maurica and I were big Disney fans? Well, that meant that our daughter had no choice but to follow in our footsteps. She was raised on Disney movies, the Disney Channel (the old one, not the new one)…Disney everything! Apparently, that had a profound effect on her because, while she was going to college, she participated in Disney's College Program. For the uninitiated, this offers an opportunity for college students to work for a semester (or longer, in some cases) at a Disney resort. In Kat's case, she worked at Walt Disney World in Orlando. That led to her later deciding to return to the College Program after she graduated from college. This led to her meeting and falling in love with a fellow College Program participant, which led to her marrying said "CP." When your daughter and son-in-law both work at Disney, you learn to call them "attractions" or risk a tongue lashing. While I am kidding about the tongue lashing, I will admit that I have had more than one correction about what to call them. Back to the current time…
One cool benefit of having your daughter work for Disney is that immediate family members can sometimes get into the parks for free. No, this wasn't our plan from the beginning when raising our daughter to be a Disney fan (you wouldn't be the first to accuse us of that) but it is a happy coincidence. Therefore, we got into Epcot on this trip for free.
Our visit coincided with Epcot's International Flower and Garden Festival, so the money we saved getting into the park allowed us to spend money on many of the food treats offered during this festival. We also decided to treat ourselves to the Garden Rocks Dining Package, which included a dinner along with "reserved seats" for the nightly concert. We decided to try a new restaurant for our anniversary, so we decided on Spice Road Table. This is a Mediterranean restaurant and, while we don't go to a lot of Mediterranean restaurants, we realized that we have enjoyed every one we have tried. It was an amazing meal. Our dining package allowed both of us to get two items off the menu, along with an order of Tagine and two desserts. I ordered the Spicy Shrimp, while Maurica chose the Naan Spreads. We also both ordered the Spice Road Table Sampler, which included three different entree choices. While it may seem crazy for both of us to get the same second choice, allow me to explain to some of you how long-term married couples make decisions quickly. We both knew that it was likely that each of us would love at least one of the items, like one of the items and be indifferent, or averse, to one of the items. By each of us ordering this dish, we felt it guaranteed that we would each get enough of at least one dish we loved. The problem is, we both liked all three. However, there's only so much food you can eat, so we split things up and managed to "clean our plates," making all of our parents proud of us. What has changed for us over the years is how quickly we can make these decisions simply because we know each other so well.
The food at Spice Road Table was incredible (here's a menu for as long as Disney keeps this restaurant, and this link, active), and we vow to return to this restaurant in the near future! If you've never been there, we strongly urge you to try this (relatively new) little known restaurant. The concert we attended was "Jason Scheff, longtime lead singer of Chicago", as Disney billed it. Now, I was a huge Chicago fan during the 70's, and I knew that Peter Cetera was the lead singer during that time. However, I decided that I loved the music of Chicago enough to take a chance on this concert. Unfortunately, after the first song, I realized that Jason took over around the time I lost my taste for Chicago because they had become a "love ballad band." Nevertheless, Jason is a talented singer (even at this age) and the band they put together played old and newer Chicago songs quite well, so it was an enjoyable half-hour concert.
All in all, we had an amazing 40th anniversary celebration. However, the best part wasn't about what we did. It was about who we did it with.
I feel I am an incredibly lucky person. You don't get to pick what family you are born into but I was fortunate enough to be born into a family where both my parents were around when I was born and stayed together until my father passed away. Both parents made it clear to me how much they loved me. Both parents taught me everything they knew about life and trying to be a good person. I had a brother and sister who both made it clear to me how much they loved me and both helped shape the person I am today. I have been fortunate in my career to have worked with amazing people who I learned a great deal from and who were critical to my success.
However, the most fortunate element in my life is the person I met, fell in love with and married; my wife, Maurica. No, luck isn't the only thing that matters when you get and stay married. There is a lot of hard work involved. However, there is a certain amount of luck that has to do with whom you meet and what opportunities you have with which to explore a romantic relationship. In that area, I hit the lottery! I'm one of the fortunate few that get to spend the rest of my life with someone who I have genuinely always felt is as much my friend as my wife. I don't just love Maurica, I like Maurica…and that means the world to me! If there's any advice I can give to people starting out in a relationship, it is to find someone who you genuinely like before you decide to get married.
Our anniversary's best moments, as all of our best moments have been, were the times we spent together doing something we both enjoy while enjoying each other's company. One of the best times we had during our anniversary was putting a puzzle together in our cabin. Some of the best times we ever have together are playing games together. Are we so boring that this is all it takes to have fun? Well, yes, but that's not the point. The point is, what makes these trivial events enjoyable is the talking and laughing and crying that we've done over the years (actually decades) together. I've never really bought into the idea of "soul mates," as I feel the idea romanticizes the fact that long-term relationships are more about compromise and hard work than just simply "finding the right one." However, if you're going to make the case for soul mates, I feel I've found the right one for me.
Thank you for making me so happy, Maurica! I probably don't deserve you but I will continue to work hard every day to earn the right to be your husband!
Until my next entry…
Well, unofficially we only celebrated our 10th anniversary, since we were married on February 29th during a leap year (1984), otherwise known as Leap Day. Therefore, this year was only the 10th time we could actually celebrate the anniversary on that specific day.
Why did we get married on Leap Day? No, it was not because I'm cheap and didn't want to celebrate our anniversary every year. OK, so I am cheap but that's not the reason for this. We chose Leap Day so that we could both remember the day. We were concerned that one of us (not just me) would forget our anniversary date, so we decided to get married on an unusual day. Maurica wanted to get married on Halloween but I just couldn't wrap my head around combining the sanctity of marriage with Halloween. Fortunately for me, Maurica was willing to compromise, and we agreed to get married on February 29th. Did the strategy work? Better than we expected. Not only do we remember every year but a lot of our friends and family remember our anniversary due to the novelty of "only celebrating every 4 years." This fact was never our intention but we are amazed every year how many people reach out to us to wish us a happy anniversary.
In fact, we do celebrate our anniversary every year. What is great about getting married on Leap Day is that you get to choose which day on which to celebrate every three out of four years; either February 28th or March 1st. This means we have flexibility if our plans involve activities where we compete with others, such as dining out or taking a vacation.
In recent years, we were fortunate enough to be able to plan a trip around our anniversary, usually some place warm due to the fact that late February in Indiana doesn't offer that opportunity. This year provided our first challenge, since we now live in Florida, which was often the place to which we traveled. Now where do we go?
After making a few suggestions (I tend to be "the planner" in our marriage), we decided to stay in Florida. While that doesn't sound very special, what we chose to do was, at least for us. We decided to repeat what we did on our honeymoon. We stayed in Walt Disney World's Fort Wilderness cabins. Some background…
When we got married, we were such big Disney fans that we took a trip down to Orlando and stayed in these cool trailers in Walt Disney World's Fort Wilderness campground area. As young adults, we both enjoyed being in a "wilderness" area while still having all the comforts of home, and we had a great time staying in the campground and visiting the parks, at which time there were only two; Magic Kingdom and Epcot. Remember, this was 1984. Along with the obligatory bedroom and bathroom, our trailer also included a living room area and a kitchen, which was important because we didn't have a lot of money, so we were able to economize by making some of our own meals. Back to the current time…
Walt Disney World's Fort Wilderness now has "cabins" but the basic layout is the same. We had a wonderful two days in the cabin, and we decided to visit Epcot while we were there. Epcot is my favorite WDW park, so we have been dozens of times over the years. Since we've been there so often, we can actually relax during our visits and just enjoy the atmosphere and people, rather than rush around from one attraction to the next. Yes, they are "attractions," not "rides." How do I know this? This requires more background…
Besides my incredible relationship with my wife, the other amazing thing that has come out of our marriage is our daughter, Kat. Remember how I said that Maurica and I were big Disney fans? Well, that meant that our daughter had no choice but to follow in our footsteps. She was raised on Disney movies, the Disney Channel (the old one, not the new one)…Disney everything! Apparently, that had a profound effect on her because, while she was going to college, she participated in Disney's College Program. For the uninitiated, this offers an opportunity for college students to work for a semester (or longer, in some cases) at a Disney resort. In Kat's case, she worked at Walt Disney World in Orlando. That led to her later deciding to return to the College Program after she graduated from college. This led to her meeting and falling in love with a fellow College Program participant, which led to her marrying said "CP." When your daughter and son-in-law both work at Disney, you learn to call them "attractions" or risk a tongue lashing. While I am kidding about the tongue lashing, I will admit that I have had more than one correction about what to call them. Back to the current time…
One cool benefit of having your daughter work for Disney is that immediate family members can sometimes get into the parks for free. No, this wasn't our plan from the beginning when raising our daughter to be a Disney fan (you wouldn't be the first to accuse us of that) but it is a happy coincidence. Therefore, we got into Epcot on this trip for free.
Our visit coincided with Epcot's International Flower and Garden Festival, so the money we saved getting into the park allowed us to spend money on many of the food treats offered during this festival. We also decided to treat ourselves to the Garden Rocks Dining Package, which included a dinner along with "reserved seats" for the nightly concert. We decided to try a new restaurant for our anniversary, so we decided on Spice Road Table. This is a Mediterranean restaurant and, while we don't go to a lot of Mediterranean restaurants, we realized that we have enjoyed every one we have tried. It was an amazing meal. Our dining package allowed both of us to get two items off the menu, along with an order of Tagine and two desserts. I ordered the Spicy Shrimp, while Maurica chose the Naan Spreads. We also both ordered the Spice Road Table Sampler, which included three different entree choices. While it may seem crazy for both of us to get the same second choice, allow me to explain to some of you how long-term married couples make decisions quickly. We both knew that it was likely that each of us would love at least one of the items, like one of the items and be indifferent, or averse, to one of the items. By each of us ordering this dish, we felt it guaranteed that we would each get enough of at least one dish we loved. The problem is, we both liked all three. However, there's only so much food you can eat, so we split things up and managed to "clean our plates," making all of our parents proud of us. What has changed for us over the years is how quickly we can make these decisions simply because we know each other so well.
The food at Spice Road Table was incredible (here's a menu for as long as Disney keeps this restaurant, and this link, active), and we vow to return to this restaurant in the near future! If you've never been there, we strongly urge you to try this (relatively new) little known restaurant. The concert we attended was "Jason Scheff, longtime lead singer of Chicago", as Disney billed it. Now, I was a huge Chicago fan during the 70's, and I knew that Peter Cetera was the lead singer during that time. However, I decided that I loved the music of Chicago enough to take a chance on this concert. Unfortunately, after the first song, I realized that Jason took over around the time I lost my taste for Chicago because they had become a "love ballad band." Nevertheless, Jason is a talented singer (even at this age) and the band they put together played old and newer Chicago songs quite well, so it was an enjoyable half-hour concert.
All in all, we had an amazing 40th anniversary celebration. However, the best part wasn't about what we did. It was about who we did it with.
I feel I am an incredibly lucky person. You don't get to pick what family you are born into but I was fortunate enough to be born into a family where both my parents were around when I was born and stayed together until my father passed away. Both parents made it clear to me how much they loved me. Both parents taught me everything they knew about life and trying to be a good person. I had a brother and sister who both made it clear to me how much they loved me and both helped shape the person I am today. I have been fortunate in my career to have worked with amazing people who I learned a great deal from and who were critical to my success.
However, the most fortunate element in my life is the person I met, fell in love with and married; my wife, Maurica. No, luck isn't the only thing that matters when you get and stay married. There is a lot of hard work involved. However, there is a certain amount of luck that has to do with whom you meet and what opportunities you have with which to explore a romantic relationship. In that area, I hit the lottery! I'm one of the fortunate few that get to spend the rest of my life with someone who I have genuinely always felt is as much my friend as my wife. I don't just love Maurica, I like Maurica…and that means the world to me! If there's any advice I can give to people starting out in a relationship, it is to find someone who you genuinely like before you decide to get married.
Our anniversary's best moments, as all of our best moments have been, were the times we spent together doing something we both enjoy while enjoying each other's company. One of the best times we had during our anniversary was putting a puzzle together in our cabin. Some of the best times we ever have together are playing games together. Are we so boring that this is all it takes to have fun? Well, yes, but that's not the point. The point is, what makes these trivial events enjoyable is the talking and laughing and crying that we've done over the years (actually decades) together. I've never really bought into the idea of "soul mates," as I feel the idea romanticizes the fact that long-term relationships are more about compromise and hard work than just simply "finding the right one." However, if you're going to make the case for soul mates, I feel I've found the right one for me.
Thank you for making me so happy, Maurica! I probably don't deserve you but I will continue to work hard every day to earn the right to be your husband!
Until my next entry…