25th wedding anniversary celebration

For our 25th wedding anniversary “date,” all I knew was that my husband was dressing in a suit and that we were going to dinner at 4:30 Friday afternoon (Feb. 10th). I was all excited because I was striving for the “hot mama” look for my husband, complete with cute dress and high heels. (His reaction: “You’re going to get cold in that.” Umm, yeah, not what I was going for.)

Little did I know…..

My husband, niece and oldest daughter had been plotting and planning for weeks to surprise me with a 25th wedding anniversary vow renewal service.

And surprise me they did.

After dinner I was blindfolded and told since I had “trust issues” I needed to just relax and enjoy the ride. No questions, no lookey see.

Of course I responded I had no Xa*ax handy so he better take care of me

My thoughts?

Our old favorite bed and breakfast in the woods.

A Broadway show in town or a concert.

A night in a hotel.

45 minutes later we slow down on a gravel road. I found out later my actor husband was just pretending as he said, “reservation for Walden. This wasn’t supposed to happen.” He is such a funny man. Totally trying to throw me off.

We arrived (at the church) and he led me inside (to the worship center). Before he took the blindfold off he told me, “25 years ago I asked you to spend the rest of your life with me. I wanted to make this year and this night memorable. Please join me as we renew our vows.”

He took off my blindfold and this is what I saw:

Candles in mason jars, lining the aisle of a darkened church.

I went out into the lobby and there were friends and family to surprise me.

My daughter had bought a beautiful white dress for me and a bouquet of flowers.

Tim had written the entire ceremony and had my vows printed out (in large type, ’cause I can’t see anything with my contacts!) for me to read and approve or change.

Ready to walk down the aisle……again.

My oldest two sang “I Will be Here,” by Steven Curtis Chapman, a song Tim and I have often sung at other people’s weddings. It was amazingly touching to see my grown children use their talents to bless us.

Our son-in-law Donny

Our oldest daughter Rachel

Our oldest son Joshua

Gazing at the man I married 25 years ago. Still so in love.

Reading our vows to each other

One of the neatest parts of the ceremony was the unity sand. There were 5 different colors of sand in glass cylinders, to be poured into one container, symbolizing our individual lives joined together as one. Not just a husband and wife but our children celebrating our union.