Sweet Sixteen

Well call me out of touch. I always thought the 16th anniversary gift was wax or silver hollowware. Turns out the modern update is apparently covid, and while mine arrived early last month, Patrick's was right on time — he tested positive Tuesday afternoon (our anniversary was Wednesday). So he's been in isolation, and I've spent the week devoted to City of Saint Paul Cultural STAR Board. Please spend more money in Saint Paul so I have more sales tax funds to give to deserving arts organizations. 

It really has been kind of a comedy of errors. I was going to get him some crystal glasses he had coveted at Aesthetic Home, and some chartreuse (the 16-year stone is peridot). But it turns out that chartreuse is out of stock all over (supply chain, who knew? I went to 4 different liquor stores), and the dog knocked the gift bag over and broke the glasses. I ended up getting him some kintsugi pottery from Iceland, and leaving it in a bag outside his isolation room.

He was going to get me a kitten, and I fell in love with one online. And then that one got adopted, but we were going to go up to the cabin this weekend, and he thought maybe I could pick out one from Jerry at Vintage Village. But now that's clearly off. So he managed to somehow do a remote pickup of some mercury glass candleholders from Aesthetic Home (I'm really going to miss that store).

So he has 2 unbroken glasses and I probably won't get a kitten, but we somehow rallied anyway.

Though, as I told him in our notebook, "We'll always have Duluth!" While Beatrix was camping with her Girl Scout troop this weekend, we spent a day in Duluth, heading to Ursa Minor for beer (Badass Warrior Goddess, natch) and pizza, to Wild State, shopping at various stores (including discovering Warrior Printess), coffee at Amazing Grace, beer at Hoops, a private tasting at Vikre, dinner at Va Bene, and drinks at Jade Fountain before heading home. (we did not have the energy to hit Northern Spark when we got back though).

And hey, that's what 16 years is about. About loving someone all the more when you are isolated from them, and being overwhelmed with work and life at the same time marveling about how lucky you are to have it, and all of this means you get extra time with the teen while shaking your head that she is being the teen-ie-est teen that ever teen-ed.

I'm in a funny place right now, of feeling both incredibly unsatisfied and like my life is so rich, sometimes at the very same time. So maybe this was actually the anniversary I needed.

Happy anniversary honey! I can kiss you in (checks calendar) ... 8 more days ...