7 Years of Love and Receipts

Mark and I spent our 7th wedding anniversary talking about how we didn't celebrate our 7th wedding anniversary. No weekend get-away, no fancy dinner out, we didn't even give each other cards. To add insult to injury, Mark has yet to replace his lost wedding ring, and I have yet to change my name to his, legally. I tried to let these things bother me as much as I could. I tried to convince Mark that all of this spelled doom for our marriage. But this year, we were just too tired to really let it matter. Mark did mention trying to replace his ring again, but seemed surprised, er, disappointed, when I reminded him that I purchased his ring, along with mine, at a Kay's Jewelers Outlet store. For 80 bucks. With his future mother-in-law. In other words, it was just par for the unsentimental course we seem to find ourselves on, these days. Were we ever sentimental about this most important union of ours?

The proof in in the receipts...

In cleaning out some file folders the other day, I came across a stack of old receipts of purchases we made as a newly married couple.

I found the receipt for the rings. Turns out I shopped at a Zales Outlet store, and the ring cost a whopping $81 (on sale). Don't worry, though. This wasn't just any outlet store, this was a  *premium* outlet. I go all out for my man.

But the best was yet to come...

This pile of records of old financial transactions brought back a flood of emotion and memories of my beginnings with Mark. A sampling:

Fairway (12th Ave) - Our favorite place to grocery shop. They have a giant refrigerator room where all their cold items are kept. The store provides jackets, hung on hooks, just out side the refrigerator room, so you don't freeze to death on the inside.

Petco (Broadway) - Mark bought me a fish tank from here for my birthday when we were dating. The fish tank came with us to our first apartment after we were married. We called the room with the fish, the "relaxation room" (really our office/guest room). Mark would come home from work and just sit and watch those fish for the longest time--his way of decompressing after a long day.

American Museum of Natural History (Central Park West) - The location of our first date. After we got married, we bought an annual membership so we go on more dates. Walks in Central Park, always followed.

Tip Top Shoes (W 72nd) - Mark bought a few pairs of shoes here and was never satisfied with them. And then always experienced some kind of drama in returning them. And then he'd go back to shop there again.??

Mott Haven Station Post Office (E. 139th, S. Bronx) - We had to buy stamps from a postal worker working behind bullet proof glass. Always an interesting experience, but so convenient because it was located a few blocks from our school. (Which, of course, is where we met.)

St. Nicholas Laundromat, Inc (St. Nicholas Ave). We spent every Saturday morning, hauling our laundry to and from the laundromat in our rickety little cart, and then had to get it all up to our apartment in the perilous elevator in our building, which never liked to stop on the correct floor, and sometimes stopped in-between floors.

What a fun start. What a wonderful life we've made...

Happy Anniversary, M! 143