As the Beatles Say…

“It was 20 years ago today…”

In the week of July 14, 1990, the following happened:

After meeting with West German Chancellor Helmut Kohl, Soviet President Mikhail S. Gorbachev reluctantly gives his blessing to a united Germany in NATO, stressing that a united Germany must choose its alliance. President George Herbert Walker Bush welcomed Gorbachev’s change of position. Removing the last big obstacle to a single German state, Poland declares itself “entirely satisfied” with firm new border guarantees. Reunification is expected to come December 2 with all-German elections. President Mikhail S. Gorbachev orders the immediate diversification of the Soviet Union’s state-run radio and television system, so that all political movements will have access to the airwaves, ending the Communist Party’s monopoly.

In news closer to my neck of the woods:

Cincinnati native and baseball star Pete Rose is sentenced to five months in prison and fined $50 thousand for cheating on his taxes. Rose failed to report $354 thousand in income from baseball memorabilia sales autograph appearances and from monies made from gambling, for which he was banned from baseball.

Bestselling books include:

Coyote Waits - Tony Hillerman

The Burden of Proof - Scott Turow

Message From NAM - Danielle Steel

The Stand - Stephen King

An Inconvenient Woman - Dominick Dunne

Dave Barry Turns 40 - Dave Barry

Men At Work - George F. Will

Captain Sir Richard Francis Burton - Edward Rice

Barbarians At The Gate - Bryan Burrough/John Helyar

Top albums include:

I’m Breathless - Madonna

Please Hammer Don’t Hurt Em - M.C. Hammer

Poison - Bell Biv DeVoe

Pretty Woman - Soundtrack

Wilson Phillips - Wilson Phillips

Step by Step - News Kids on the Block

Violator - Depeche Mode

Soul Provider - Michael Bolton

Brigade - Heart

Shut Up and Dance - Paula Abdul

I Do Not Want What I Haven’t Got - Sinead O’Connor

And playing at the movies:

Die Hard 2 - Bruce Willis, Bonnie Bedelia, William Atherton, John Amos

Ghost - Patrick Swayze, Demi Moore, Whoopi Goldberg

Days Of Thunder - Tom Cruise, Nicole Kidman

Disney’s - The Jungle Book (reissue)

Ford Fairlane - Andrew Dice Clay

Quick Change - Bill Murray, Geena Davis, Randy Quaid, Jason Robards

Dick Tracy - Warren Beatty, Madonna

Total Recall - Arnold Schwarzenegger

Another 48 Hours - Edie Murphy, Nick Nolte

The Jetsons

Robocop - Peter Weller

Navy Seals - Charlie Sheen, Michael Biehn, Joanne Whalley-Kilmer, Bill Paxton

Pretty Woman - Richard Gere, Julia Roberts

Betsy’s Wedding - Alan Alda, Molly Ringwald

Thanks to Mr. Pop History for that walk down memory lane.

July 14 is also Bastille Day, named for the storming of the Bastille prison that marked the beginning of the French Revolution. So, for all my French readers and fans of all things French, “Vive la France!”

Most important to me, however, is that July 14 marks the day that I made the most important commitment of my life. It’s the day I got all dressed up in a frilly white gown, rode to the church in a horse-drawn carriage, walked down the aisle on the arm of my tuxedo-clad father, and married my best friend. Several things stand out in my mind about that evening: it was warm, but it wasn’t stifling hot like I expected it to be; the priest presiding over the ceremony had a broken arm; I giggled when I saw there were gnats in my bouquet of silk flowers; the overwhelming feeling of gratitude and love I had when I saw so many of my friends and family in the congregation; looking at the sparkling diamonds on my finger after we exchanged rings, dazzled and amazed; kissing my new husband while flashes went off all around us. It was a beautiful ceremony, a loud, fun reception, and a wonderful honeymoon on the East Coast.

It was 20 years ago today. And it was the start of the best years of my life.

My husband is still my best friend. He’s the one I think of first whenever something exciting happens, or when I need someone to console me. He’s a great listener, a fixer, a get-it-done kind of guy, with a wicked sense of humor and killer blue eyes. He’s a wonderful father to our two boys; he’s an amazing writer, musician, thinker, and partner. He has sacrificed so many of his own dreams for our family, and I couldn’t be more grateful to him for that.

I hope someday I can help him to realize the dreams he has yet to achieve. I hope that, when our boys are out of school and off on their own, we can travel, see the places we’ve dreamed about, and maybe retire in a nice little cottage by the sea or a lake. I hope that we both live to be very old and healthy as horses so we can continue to appreciate our lives and each other. I hope that we’ll have grandchildren and great-grandchildren to cherish, but that we’ll always put each other first in our lives.

Happy 20th anniversary, Keith. I cherish you and the life we’ve built together. Let’s build some more, babe.

7 Comments

• 

  By Toni, July 14, 2010 @ 10:50 am

  Congratulations, my dear friend! *I* hope that all of your hopes come true.

• 

  By Rose, July 14, 2010 @ 11:52 am

  Thank you so much, dear Twinsy! xox

• 

  By Keith, July 14, 2010 @ 1:26 pm

  I’m flattered to be featured on your blog. It’s been a great two decades.

• 

  By Ginny, July 14, 2010 @ 1:36 pm

  Happy Anniversary! Enjoy each and every moment as if it is your last, never take anything for granted, do the things you want to do NOW, because you can’t always know what lies ahead. Be happy always.

  Ginny, married to my soul mate for 28+ years

• 

  By Rose, July 15, 2010 @ 2:54 am

  Thanks for stopping by, sweetie. It has been a great 2 decades! Here’s to many, many more. xox

  Thank you, Ginny. Your words mean a lot! And congrats to you, too.

• 

  By maria, July 19, 2010 @ 8:59 am

  Oh…wow. The Stand is my all time favorite book by King, except for The Shining.
  And Ghost? I had the BEST first date of my life going to that movie. Funny, though. I have no idea what happened to the woman who was my date.
  Twenty years ago, I was 32. I was in private practice, making money hand over fist. I lived in a condo that I had someone else decorate for me because I was just that busy. I partied hard on the weekends.

  Twenty years later, I honestly feel lucky to be alive after all that foolish partying.

• 

  By Rose, July 19, 2010 @ 12:50 pm

  I’m definitely glad you’re still around, Maria. But I bet the partying was fun…:-)

  Funny, what we look back on and regret. Or what we look back on and cherish.

  Thanks for stopping by!

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