Happy Anniversary to Us

It is 9:00 p.m. in Tirana.  Discounting time zone differences, 7 years ago today, at this hour, we were celebrating our marriage in Woody and Cherie's back yard.  We want to thank Mike Marsh, our bartender; Woody and Cherie, our gracious hosts; Emma, Ellie, Taylor and Chanelle, our lovely bridesmaids and flower girls for helping us along the road to matrimony.  And, we want to thank Kent McDaniel for officiating at the ceremony to actually get us married in the eyes of the State of Mississippi.  I would also like to thank, posthumously, Jim Higginbotham, our intrepid Irish drummer, for providing not only the wonderful ring for Cindy but also the band for the wedding and reception.  If you recall, it was Jim and Cindy who danced the Irish wedding dance due to my shortcomings in that genre.  I was however able to dance one, wonderful slow dance with my new wife without falling in Woody and Cherie's pool.  For those of you who think I can't dance, we have danced once since then at the Flora Bama before it was washed away by Hurricane Ivan.  

I have fond memories of the arbor under which we were married.  It was a vacant place in the Bond back yard when we commenced construction.  As in most of my projects, it started out as an idea and not a plan.  But with constant input from Woody and Cherie, it became, I hope, what they intended, but who knows????  They have never complained, at least to me, if their intentions were not satisfied.  Regardless, the two construction guys (Dave and Woody) had a wonderful time; the beer was good; and what can you say, as an "architect," it is still standing.  The Parthenon is still standing 2300 years later.  And I can only hope that Woody and Dave's magnificent achievement will still be around when you can buy whiskey in Rankin County.

Happy Anniversary, thank you all for coming.

P.S.  Stewart Barbour tried to get all my friends to throw William in the pool.  It is a testament to their character that he remained dry (not in the Rankin County sense of the word).