23

This time last year we "Celebrated" our 22 wedding anniversary in London's Heathrow airport between two veeeery long flights and with one very sick husband.

In fact directly after our airport pub lunch we loaded him up with some cold meds and found some valuable real estate on a day the whole of the UK's air traffic control system went down and half the world it seemed was stuck at Heathrow.......the boys napped while Lindsay and I shopped Terminal 5.  

Tres Romantic!

As if the day could get any more thrilling we made good use of our air ticket investment with high class drinks with "dinner" on British Airways.  Cheers to us.

While we were in South Africa my amazing sister-in-law organised THIS Amazing Race to show off our town to the kids and take Allan and I down memory lane..... which brought us here....

Worlds View - a beautiful spot overlooking the sleepy valley of our old home town, Pietermaritzburg!  

Not JUST a lovely view point but also site of our first date (after the drive-in movie we came here to see the City lights...uh huh....yup....).

So of course, despite being in a madly competitive race Allan and I took a moment to remember our first visit here.....almost exactly 24 years earlier.  

Having the entire extended family watching and knowing "someone" was pointing a camera at us......we kept it decent!

TBH there is evidence of an actual smooch thanks to the lovely photos my sister-in-law sent us this week but it's NOT going on the interweb mainly to save our children from further trauma.

Allan was mortally offended when I suggested the kiss may have actually been a delaying tactic to try and get the boys team ahead in the Race and insists it was to celebrate our love!  

I'll believe his story.....mainly because the girls team won anyway 

(with a Byres at the wheel there was little doubt about that).

Which brings us to today...... almost 23 years after we said "I do" on December 7th, 1991

We are celebrating in luxurious fashion at a beautiful oceanfront hotel.

Alone.

With good food and wine.

It is one more memory in a marriage spent trying to figure out how to do life together in a way that honours each of us, that calls out the best each of us has to offer the other and our family, that holds onto vows even when they ring hollow, that perseveres and chooses love day after day after day.

It's a moment to reflect and rejoice that we are still together.

And Happy.

And in Love.

A fact that is miraculous to us and held very gently and tenderly for we know the fragility of that gift we have been given.

Allan Byres......I love you.