Around the middle of September every year a letter from England lands in our post box; a letter from the aged aunt. Actually, it's a card - it's a bit early for the missus' birthday, and my birthday is still several months away...
It's only when I pull the card out of the envelope that I realize it's a wedding anniversary card! If the aged aunt did not send a card it would be highly likely that neither spouse would remember the august occasion of our September marriage way back in 2002.
22 years. Not a bad innings so far.
Just last week the topic of one of my Acadamic English classes was "Marriage in the USA." We read an article that was written back in the 1990s that informed us that first-time marriages in the USA last on average just over nine years. I just checked that on ChatGPT, and it was adamant that the average was around eight years.
I thought I'd check up on how my fellow Brits were doing, and it seems the average life-span of a first-time marriage has crept up in recent years from single digits to 12.4 years, and in Japan it is 11-12 years, with higher divorce rates for mixed marriages, so we've already doubled the US average, and if, D.V., we last another 3 years we'll have doubled the average Japanese and British marriage!
Anyway, when the Missus saw the anniversary card I suggested that we go out and celebrate since 22 somehow seems vaguely significant - double twos and all that, although one way of counting the Tarot deck is to put the Fool at the end of the Upper Arcana, in 22nd place...
So let us go out and celebrate 22 years of relatively cheerful folly! Oh, I didn't mention that last thought, so the Missus agreed and off we went to wine and dine at one of the best Italian restaurants in our neck of the woods.
Moriae encomium!
Cheers!
David Hurley
#InspiredFocus
