This Day in History
Nineteen years ago today, my bride and I were wed. Below is photographic evidence of the event. Please note that the original photo has been bronzed, in honor of our bronze anniversary (yes, I had to look that up, and no we’re not that old, yet) …
I was curious to see what other events may have occurred on this day in history, and apart from the 14th amendment being adopted in 1868, I was surprised to find a list of rather unfortunate events:
1914: Austria-Hungary declares war on Serbia (start of World War I)
1945: Plane crashes into Empire State Building
1948: Movie studios observe 3 minutes of silence in honor of D. W. Griffith’s funeral
1965: Johnson announces more troops to Vietnam
1973: Bonnie & Clyde’s V-8 sold at auction
1976: Worst modern earthquake
Not exactly a banner day, huh? That is until 1990, the day of our wedding. The day that turned the tide for this date in history. Don’t believe me? Consider this:
1991: Dennis Martinez pitches a perfect game.
Exactly one year after our wedding. Coincidence? I don’t think so.
One other bright spot on the historical timeline occurred in 1814 - when Percy Bysshe Shelley, the English poet, and Mary Shelley, of Frankenstein fame, eloped to France. And just as I was inspired to write a poem for my bride, so was Mr. Shelley, author of the famed “Love’s Philosophy,” which reads:
The fountains mingle with the river,
And the rivers with the ocean;
The winds of heaven mix forever
With a sweet emotion;
Nothing in the world is single;
All things by a law divine
In another’s being mingle–
Why not I with thine?See, the mountains kiss high heaven,
And the waves clasp one another;
No sister flower could be forgiven
If it disdained its brother;
And the sunlight clasps the earth,
And the moonbeams kiss the sea;–
What are all these kissings worth,
If thou kiss not me?
Well said Percy, well said.
Happy anniversary to my precious bride. I’m a blessed and lucky man.
