I Do

This weekend kicks off the wedding season in my family. Many years ago when my sister was searching for her wedding dress, my mother thought she should wear something elegant like in Breakfast at Tiffany’s. For months she talked about the high necked gown Audrey Hepburn graced the screen with. My sister, not yet born in 1961 when the film was released, couldn’t picture this beloved gown so the two of them rented the movie with remote control in hand to freeze frame the desired scene. Imagine their disappointment when there was no wedding scene in the film! Right actress, wrong film. Eliza Doolittle wore the remembered dress in My Fair Lady.

Having been married now for more years than not, it’s difficult for me to remember the importance or lack thereof that I placed on the dress. For me it was more about the groom. I spent many years wishing I could marry Charles Ingalls before moving on to Fabio and then Nicholas Sparks . (Is there any man more romantic?)

Romance is usually where the story ends. Most romance novels do not include the years after the honeymoon. At some point my life moved from Danielle Steel to Dr. Laura Schlessinger, as in The Proper Care and Feeding of Husbands , which my husband can attest, I have not yet mastered. That’s okay, he isn’t exactly Porn for Women , but I do see a little of Charles Ingalls in him.

What about you?

Is there a character that you envisioned as your significant other?

The List

I need to make a list. There are numerous books and movies about people making lists of things they need to accomplish before they die from the Bucket List to 1,000 Places to See Before You Die. The book I am currently reading, Where the River Ends includes a husband trying to help his wife complete her list before it’s too late.

I am a list person. I make lists for everything – things I need to do, bills I need to pay, books I want to read and books I’ve read . I do not, however, have a Bucket List or a list of places to see or things to do. I suppose at one time I did, although it has never been put down on paper.

Get married – check
Have kids – check, check, check
Live on the water – check
Jet Ski from Oconto to Door County – check
Open a bookstore – check
Have a cup of coffee with Stephen King , Dean Koontz, James Patterson and Nicholas Sparks – the emails are sent so I expect this to occur any day now.

I have been racking my brain to come up with four more things to add to my list, but it is a struggle. I’m one of those fortunate people who can’t think of anything I want (other than maybe a second pair of pants which I can actually get buttoned) or anything I want to do. I’m running out of time, though. I have to come up with four great ideas and they need to be impossible to achieve. After all, if this is a list of things to accomplish before I die, do I really want to finish them anytime soon?
What about you?

Do you have a list?

How many things on it have you accomplished?

Are you willing to share?