Celebrating a 30th Anniversary During a Pandemic

Even before the pandemic restrictions descended, we had doubts about our intentions to spend a few days together on Mackinac Island to celebrate our 30th anniversary. A prodigal child raises many potential scenarios we didn't want to chance. Despite vast improvement in our son's attitude and demeanor (his ranch internship has been a very positive contribution to his life), we still were too hesitant to ask anyone else to take responsibility for our children.

So what does a couple do when hindered by parental obligations and pandemic obstacles? Well, we rethought strategies and downsized plans. In the end, I developed this list of 30 little loving acts to celebrate our milestone. Let me tell you, 30 is a big number, so several seem repetitive, but I managed to eek out 30 nonetheless:

Photo by Johannes W on Unsplash

1. Spend ten minutes on the morning of our anniversary drinking our coffee together on the porch (depending on the time, we might even catch a sunrise).
2. Pray together for the future of our relationship.
3. Pray together for the future of our family.
4. Time together alone on the first day of school (with one at school and the other at his ranch job, we'll snag one hour - a blessing we've rarely encountered since this pandemic started).
5. Dinner out at our favorite restaurant, Tequila Sunrise (mmm, I can already taste the spinach and portabella mushroom quesadilla - since we're cheap... and old, we'll wait and celebrate on their senior discount day - ha!)
6. A trip to Dairy Queen on our anniversary night (we'll be able to bring some home for the boys to celebrate their last day of summer break).
7. Watch a travel movie (we may not go to Europe physically, but we can virtually).
8. Ask Trevor to do a photo shoot and either make a commemorative fridge magnet or photo collage.
9. A trip to Donaldson's Chocolatier to pick out a small box of dark chocolate.
10. Listen to a virtual concert together.
11. Brain-storm a list of locations for a future anniversary trip when the stars align for us.
12. Write a will! (Cannot believe we haven't done this yet - so important - must tackle soon!)
13. He'll listen to some of my recent writing (perhaps not his favorite thing to do, but it means the world to me).
14. He'll give me a neck massage.
15. I'll give him a neck massage.
16. He'll give me a foot massage.
17. I'll give him a foot massage.
18. Ask him to fill my gas tank (a task I tend to dislike).
19. Exchange our anniversary cards (and I will give him a small engraved wine-stopper I bought for him).
20. Hide 3 little love notes saying what we love about each other and then find them.
21. Take a walk, holding hands.
22. Make a small time capsule to set aside until our 40th anniversary - document what is important to us now, things we enjoy, etc.
23. Watch our wedding video together.
24. Renew our vows just between the two of us.
25. Take time together to answer the New York Times' 36 Questions That Lead to Love - to discover new things about each other.
26. Create a playlist of songs popular in 1990.
27. Take five minutes to recap the past year - the good, the bad, the changes, the challenges, the blessings, the way God has moved.
28. Take five minutes to set 3 personal goals and 3 couple goals.
29. Watch a romantic movie (we completed this one early, watching Somewhere in Time, a favorite romantic movie that takes place on our intended destination, Mackinac Island).
30. Use the fire pit (purchased but yet unused at this point) to sit outside by a small fire and enjoy each other's company.

I sent these suggestions to my husband and was thrilled when he accepted the idea. I told him we could substitute out some of his ideas because these are all very Wendy-centric (ha!) but he said the list was good. His only tweak was to change my idea of accomplishing all of this in a week. He wants to focus on one or two each week. Instead of celebrating for a day, we'll celebrate for several months. 

I still have my sights set on Barcelona in 2025 (to view the Sagrada Familia). It should be perfect timing, really. Our youngest graduates from high school in May 2025. An excellent way to begin the empty-nesting stage!