20 Years Sure Went Fast!

Twenty years ago on October 20th, my wife and I were married at the Grenville in Bayhead, NJ surrounded by friends and family to help us celebrate. It seems like only yesterday as those years have flown by. While it was a joyous occasion it was also shortly after the 9/11 attacks and around the time of the anthrax mail episode so that joy was somewhat tempered.

We did things backwards and went on our honeymoon to Italy before our wedding. That put us in Florence as the planes hit the World Trade Center. I remember getting to our hotel room after a rough drive, turning on the TV and seeing what I thought was an advertisement for a movie as the screen showed the first plane hitting the tower. A few seconds later we were in disbelief as reality set in. We were in a foreign country as our home country was under attack. The Italian people couldn’t have been more supportive. Hotel staff and fellow guests expressed their support and sorrow and offered any help they could provide. The EU flags on the Ponte Vecchio bridge (famous for its history and shops) were replaced by American flags and every shop had a sign of support in its window. We experienced that same support throughout our trip, a coming together of people united against senseless terrorist attacks.

As luck would have it, our return flight was on the first day flights were allowed back to the U.S. The airport in Rome was jam packed and security was even tighter than usual, with machine gun toting military personnel patrolling on walkways above the crowd. As a frequent traveler to Europe for work at the time that was normal to me but not to the typical tourist. I watched as one such traveler went to pull a camera from his pocket to take a photo of the security. I grabbed my soon-to-be wife and pulled her and me as far away as I could. She was stunned but soon realized why when, just as we got clear, several guns were trained on him and still more police rushed in to grab him. A sign that the world was forever changed.

Our plan to celebrate 20 years together was to head back to Italy. Thanks to Covid I am not writing this from Italy but rather from my kitchen as we had to put that trip on hold. Instead we headed to a favorite inn just over the Connecticut border in Rhode Island – the Weekapaug. Not exactly the Amalfi Coast, but a wonderful place right on the ocean. It was a fantastic and very relaxing few days; not a bad alternative, and no long plane ride required. It also gave me the opportunity to pick up some of my favorite sipping rum, Thomas Tew, which is produced in Newport and is no longer available in NJ. Not the trip we hoped for, but the chance to celebrate our milestone at a place we really enjoy, nonetheless.

A lot has happened over that last 20 years. Mostly good, some bad, and some curveballs we didn’t see coming. Through that time, we have grown together, with family and friends. Much of it is a blur of the stuff that makes up day-to-day life, but some things stand out brightly. Watching our nieces and nephew grow into fine young adults – I’d like to think we helped with that – is one of the most rewarding of those. My wife starting her own home staging business, Ready-Set-Stage, and going from zero to Top Occupied Stager in the U.S. in 5 years is right near the top too. The planning – and good fortune – that allowed me to retire early with opportunities to re-invent myself and pursue new things was a big part of those 20 years and I am grateful for the result.

For those of you in my age group, you know how quickly time slips by, and you young’uns will find that out as you get older and each year is a smaller portion of your life. So get out there and embrace life for what it is, enjoy the ride now and make memories that you can smile about later!