It only took 13 years, but I finally forgot!

This was from our 12th Wedding Anniversary
Celebration. We are on our way
to forever!

I met my husband the day after Valentine's Day in 1999. It didn't take long until we were engaged and married. It was a short engagement because we were in the military, and there was always a chance one of us could be put on orders and moved without much notice.

Our young minds thought marry fast - divorce later if it doesn't work. Ok - so divorce wasn't really on our mind. As young as we were, we believed love lasted forever. You know, the way we felt during our first relationship... and our second....and.... yep....love lasts forever. Well, we have already celebrated our 12 year anniversary so we are well on our way. We often joke that we have gone too far already and have too much time invested to throw in the towel now. So we are stuck with each other!

As a young woman, I was flirtatious and demanding. If you wanted my attention, you needed to work for it. And if you wanted me to stick around, you needed to show how much you loved me. It wasn't that I was materialistic... just maybe a little insecure about relationships. I have had a few in the past. Some that lasted less than 24 hours and others were my heart had been pulled out of my chest and left to bleed to death. So, at the time I met my husband, I wasn't in the mood for a relationship. I wanted to have fun and I wanted to be spoiled and I wanted nothing more than to feel wanted.

This is were Sweetest Day comes in. My husband and I met in the Army. I am from Wisconsin and he was from California. Suddenly we are both shoved in New York. It took a lot of adjusting. Not only are the people different, the holidays apparently are as well.

Sweetest Day has always been the 3rd Saturday in October and frankly, it is what can be coined a "Hallmark" Holiday, even though Hallmark didn't have anything to do with it. This actually originated in Cleveland in 1921, and at the time I was dating my husband, this was a holiday primarily celebrated in the Great Lakes Region. Gee - that includes Wisconsin and not California!

You don't have to do much, even
a rose from your backyard to show
your significant other your thinking
of them will make all the difference!

So, on that first 3rd Saturday that we were dating, my fiance showed up empty handed. I gave him the cold shoulder. How could he be so cruel? Did I mean nothing to him? It wasn't as if I was asking for a dozen red roses or a box of candies. Just a little mention would have made me feel better. But nope, nothing. For all I remember, it was a typical night in my barracks room watching a movie while he farted and scratched himself. (Ok - maybe that isn't how it went, but can you tell I was mad!)

So when he finally got out of me what was wrong, he gave me this strange look, almost as if I was making this holiday up as a practical joke. But I wasn't, and I could prove it. It was even written on my calendar in the same type print that they write Yom Kippur Day and Columbus Day and Halloween and Christmas and all the other holidays as well. How could my calendar be wrong? It was written in black and white right there staring at me.

Yet, I found out the sad truth. Not everybody celebrates this holiday and not everybody has even heard of this holiday. I was in shock. But I still demanded to be treated special. After all, it only mattered that I celebrated this day! It was a tradition from where I was from. And for the last 12 years since that first Sweetest Day when I found out he knew nothing of the holiday, I have ruthlessly reminded him of the holiday. And he has been good about not whining too much about celebrating a holiday he has never heard of!

Sure, you may be thinking this takes away the point of the holiday. Now you are forcing him to show his love, and that is something he should do on his own without being told. You may even be wondering what I am doing in return for him on this holiday. (But that is a topic that will take a whole different blog. Like Valentine's Day, this is for the girls. Get over it!) Or you too may have never even heard of this holiday, so you might think I am being downright ridiculous. But I wanted him to celebrate the holiday. To me it was like saying don't celebrate Valentine's Day because you should show the people you love that you love them everyday, not just because it was a holiday! But I wanted the holiday!

And then there was today. Today I forgot it was Sweetest Day. I haven't been hinting at it at all. In fact, I didn't even realize it was Sweetest Day until I woke up and checked Facebook and someone else... from Wisconsin... mentioned Sweetest Day.

So what can I say other than.... I guess that is what happens when you move to California!