Our Sixteenth Anniversary · 29 July 2012
Photo by Peter K. Miyoshi
Our plans for adventure and romance looked, rather sounded, like they were going to be ruined for our sixteenth wedding anniversary. The thunder was so loud it actually woke everybody up. It looked like my wife, The Mindboggling Mrs. Miyoshi, and I would be in bed all day long (with the kids and the dog) instead of wandering around in the Bellevue Botanical Garden. But we live in the Northwest and decided that a little rain would not hurt anything. So after enjoying everybody’s company (reading the newspaper and playing video games) on the soft, albeit crowded bed, we set off on our anniversary date. Just the four of us.
Now I am a bit of a romantic, but I am not always timely in my romantic gestures. This year, however, I decided to ask my wife of 16 years out on a date. Beforehand. I was thinking that we could go to dinner at the restaurant where I proposed. (If I had really been thinking, I would have written her another poem for the occasion.) And then, we could just walk hand-in-hand around town enjoying each other’s company. I thought we could at least have a nice evening as a young(ish) couple in love.
Even though she knew what I was thinking, The Mindboggling Mrs. Miyoshi had other ideas.
My wife loves to garden. And she loves to look at other people’s gardens. So her idea of a wonderful date was to go to the Bellevue Botanical Garden. It is relatively close and there are restaurants nearby where we could eat after an afternoon in the sun enjoying the flowers. I figured that could be a nice romantic way to spend our anniversary. After all, it did not matter what we did as long as we were together. Just the two of us.
Of course, The Mindboggling Mrs. Miyoshi had other ideas.
Photo by Lisa C. Miyoshi
Do not get me wrong. I love my kids. But when The Mindboggling Mrs. Miyoshi said it would be sad if the boys did not come with us, I thought she was a little crazy. I thought that the romance would be lost. I was right to some extent, but who was I to argue. After all, it was our day, not just mine.
We did have a great day even though it rained a bit and I forgot the camera. It was warm and the sun was not quite shining, but there was no rain when we got to the gardens. We set off with the kids in tow. When we started touring the gardens, I had to go back to the car to get snacks, jackets, and an umbrella. I actually made two trips back to the car because by the time we had made it 50 yards into the garden the sun had gone behind dark clouds and the weather decided to rain on our little parade.
Fortunately, the rain decided it only needed to do a little sprinkling – enough to make me go back to the car those couple times. (In hindsight, I probably should have made a third trip back to drop off some of the coats to keep them from being used for mischief as the sun came out and kept us warm.) The boys ran around like the crazy little munchkins they think they still are and our idyllic date for two ended up being a nice family outing (which even included a little shopping and dinner together after enjoying the beautiful garden).
In the end, I am glad The Mindboggling Mrs. Miyoshi had other ideas.
I suppose that I should give up these crazy romantic notions that pop into my head every now and then. Then again, when it came right down to it, it was a blissful day of walking hand in hand in hand in hand and being together enjoying each other’s company. Just the four of us. It was a great way to celebrate an auspicious occasion. I am glad that the morning thunder did not ruin but instead loudly announced our sixteenth anniversary and the beginning of our adventurous, romantic day.
© 2012 Michael T. Miyoshi
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