38:365 - 20 years ago, today

Anna: Twenty years ago today, my husband and I were married.

We were all of 19 years old. Philippe was living in BC. Having injured himself half way through basic training, he was in "X Platoon," waiting until he was recovered enough to start over. I was living in Manitoba. He had only a week available to come out to Manitoba and, with his parents and sister out of the country, we decided to simply elope. It was Easter weekend, and he arrived late Thursday night. With both Good Friday and Easter Monday being government holidays, we couldn't get our marriage license until the Tuesday. Manitoba law required a minimum 2 days between getting the license and the ceremony, so the earliest we could have the ceremony was on the Wednesday. His brother was our best man, my best friend was my maid of honour. A friend of his brother's took a few photos, and that's all there was at the ceremony. That Friday, Philippe flew back to BC, and we didn't see each other again until July. With the rest of his family able to come back to Canada for a short visit, and Philippe still in X Platoon, we were able to have a get together at my parents' farm, where this photo was taken by my sister. He then returned to BC, and we didn't see each other again until the following September, when I finally moved out to join him. Although we had our weekends together, we didn't actually live under the same roof until after he graduated and we moved to Victoria, BC, where he was posted.

Because of the circumstances of our marriage, predictions of its success were less than positive. Many assumed I was pregnant, and far more predicted a divorce in the near future. Many of those who predicted the failure of our marriage are now divorced themselves.

So here we are today, twenty years later. We've been through a lot over the years, both good and bad. Such is life, and it's so much better for having gone through it together.










note: this photo was taken by our elder daughter, who is 15 years old, not 19 1/2, using her Canon G2