48 HOURS TO CELEBRATE 24 YEARS

I consciously took last night off from writing - the first time in at least 6 months - for the sake of uninterrupted time with my wife. 

Yesterday marked the 24th anniversary of the day Melissa and I stood before friends and family and God and pledged to stay with each other for better or worse.

There's no doubt we've been blessed with quite a bit of "better" and very little "worse". 

So even though the timing was far from perfect (being in the midst of a dozen home projects under the pressure of summer days quickly passing), the two of us packed a bag, jumped into Sarah's convertible (while she's away at camp), and drove an hour south to Madison, Indiana, on the Ohio River. 

It's a beautiful little historic town and one of our favorite places for a day trip. We had never spent a night here before. 

As a bonus blessing, the apartment Melissa had booked for 2 nights ended up double-booked by Vrbo and the owner bumped us to the more expensive apartment for no extra charge - because it was our anniversary. 

So we are staying in the upper floor of an old livery and sleeping where bails of hay used to be stored for the horses. 

Things have changed since then.

This place is gorgeous! And includes every amenity. (Being old-fogeys, Melissa and I have been fascinated with having access to "Alexa" to play whatever music we want at any time. Personally, my favorite part is the heated toilet seat.) 

Melissa's favorite is the bathtub next to the wall-mounted "fireplace".

The owners are a neat Christian couple and the wife did a bit of extra decorating before we arrived.

And in the fridge was a big chunk of cake - which I basically ate by myself over the course of the first day. (I wasn't just being a pig - Melissa is gluten-free. She had one bite.)

We got dressed up and had a fancy meal out in the evening. 

It's been an incredibly enjoyable, relaxing, and memorable couple of days together.

Back to reality tomorrow. 

And time to start planning something even more special for our 25th. 

I love you, Melissa! We are blessed.