Planning for those Special Moments

By Lisa Light

Next to the day you fall in love for the first time, your wedding day is by far the most romantic moment and milestone in most peoples' lives. Being engaged and planning my own wedding was one of the best times of my life. However, I remember worrying that I would never feel that intense feeling of euphoria you feel when you first fall in love with someone. That thought made me a little sad.

I am happy to report that if you keep romance alive in your marriage you actually do fall in love with each other more and more and all over again over the years. My husband and I at different times have looked at each other and said, "I think I just fell in love with you all over again!"

We're about to celebrate our 15th wedding anniversary in October, a special milestone in our marriage. I was trying to come up with a unique way to celebrate and the inspiration came to me one day when I was driving and thinking about our early days together. I tried to remember the details of how we met, our first date, the first meals we shared, the first songs we danced to and then it came to me --I will take him back to all of the places that marked a special milestone just for him and me.

My husband is a chiropractor. My mother actually set us up because she had a hunch I would like him. When I hurt my back horseback riding she encouraged me to go to Dr. Rugen. I did, like a good girl, and literally fell in love with him the moment I met him. When I got home, I told my mother, "I think I just fell in love with my chiropractor!" and she replied, "I knew it! I knew that would happen!"

So I thought I would begin my anniversary celebration by slipping a note under my husband's pillow inviting him to meet me at the office. When he gets there he will find the very treatment room where we met set up with candles, aromatherapy, flowers, sensual music and 2 massage tables for a couples' massage. I, of course will be there waiting with two massage therapists!

From there we will go horseback riding through the Bershire Mountains, where we first fell in love. Afterwards, we'll enjoy chicken livers (yes, this was really the first meal he made for me) and champagne at his childhood home.

We got engaged on Valentine's Day in Vermont camping at Merck Forest. So after dinner, we will head off for Vermont, just like we did it 16 years ago. We arrived in the dead of winter at night with only the light of the full moon to find our cabin in the forest. We found it, made a fire and huddled for warmth. That is when he popped the question, spur of the moment.

We were married on a bridge in the woods at my childhood home with a pig roast to follow. So, you guessed it. Our return from our milestone weekend will end with a small pig roast at home with our closest friends, family and three beautiful daughters at our side.

I know our trip back in time will be just as romantic as the first go around and make our 15th anniversary a new, unforgettable milestone!