Our 1st Anniversary – “Messages in the Bottle”

On September 15th, we celebrated our first wedding anniversary……with a two-tank dive morning at The Lighthouse and West End Wall, followed by two chapters of KR (Knowledge Review) from the Divemaster Manual…..something about hypothetical tissues, compartments, half-times and M-Values. It was mind-numbing……kinda like looking back at how fast the last year has gone by.

We have been married a YEAR!!!

Thankfully, the first anniversary is “paper”. Since we are both unemployed and homeless, paper we can afford. And, we brought precious paper in the form of our antique Robert Gibson, Manchester England bottle full of marital counseling – the Messages in the Bottle from our wedding day.

We publish excerpts here for the betterment of all relationships. If you need inspiration, sage counsel, poetry, pictorials of joy, sensible suggestions, foreplay secrets, random non-sense and loads of “my two cents”, then you will find it below.

We LOVED them all. Well, most of them, anyway. Here’s how our day started.

At 5am, Cat awoke with a start. “It’s our anniversary, honey.” I would have preferred that our anniversary start a little later in the morning, but I’m married now, so my 5am is now OUR 5am, according to community law.

Cat grabbed the bottle and proceeded quickly out the door to our rock wall by the sea. I drowsily followed, with an ice coffee in hand. We negotiated a fair number for the morning reading, and settled on 10 messages. Cat dug into the bottle like an octopus probing a reef for fish. Suggestions at sunrise. Recommendations on Roatan. Opinions by the Ocean. First message = BLANK. Dammit, Joe D, this is no time to fail me. Second message = “Fun wedding. Great time. Perfect couple. Be good to each other.” OK, now we’re getting somewhere. Third message = Cat silently read a note from her father, and started crying with joy. Then, she handed the note to me. I choked up too (it was beautiful). All we could think to do was hug. It was 5:30am, the sun was peaking over the top of the island, and two pajama-clad foreigners were huggin’ on a sea wall. Perfect.

Then, Cat broke our embrace and wanted to read another 15 messages. I had to talk her off that cliff. 10 messages was the deal……just like till death do us part. But, she gave me “the look”, and I got rolled like sand in high surf. Cat went bottle fishing, and we kept on reading.

We opened 10 more at lunch (after diving), and saved the rest for dinner. At the Argentina Grill (our favorite restaurant on the island), we ordered wine, broke out the video camera and took turns reading the messages. It was such a treat, and the best part was that it took us back to our wedding day, and all the fun that we had. It was necessary to relive the wedding day, because the actual day is still just a blur in our memories.

We are sincerely grateful and humbled by the love you have shared with us, are sharing with us, and will share with us. Here’s some of what you wrote……enjoy.

Messages in the Bottle: MITB – The Wedding
“Congratulations!!”
“The ceremony was so pretty.”
“The wedding was beautiful. You both looked sooooooooo happy.”
“Starfish, sand dollars, tobasco, joy, love, wine, cottage of sweets…..truly beautiful.”
“Cat, you’re so pretty. Matt, well…congratulations.”
“Wonderfully perfect day.”
“What a beautiful day.”
“I can feel the love today.”
“You really know how to throw a great party.”
“You have set the bar. I want to come to your 5th and 10th anniversaries.”
“On a day that makes my heart burst with happiness.”
“So the day has finally arrived.”
“What a day!!”
“All your planning paid off.”
“Thank you for an amazing party.”
“I am so happy to be here.”

Our Take: The Wedding – WE are so happy YOU were there. Our friends and families mingled and meshed so well, so seamlessly. It was our joy to behold, and an even greater joy to mix it up for a night.

MITB – Time
“Hope your marriage lasts forever.”
“9-15-08…..HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!!!”
“Hope you’re as happy today as you were on your wedding day.”
“May you both love one another as much as you do today.”
“You don’t even know how long I have been waiting for this to happen.”
“You made it one year. SWEET. It only gets better.”
“You’re one year in…..YEE HAW!!”
“The first year is over. Now, the work begins.”
“Timing is everything. Have a great time on your first anniversary.”

Our Take: Time – Yes, you read it right. We got a YEE HAW message.

MITB – Fertility
“May you be blessed with many children.”
“Hopefully, we’ll have kids that grow up together.”
“So, any kids yet?”
“May your life be prosperous and full of children.”
“We can’t wait to meet those beautiful babies.”
“Hope your little one is doing well. Better get crackin’ on #2.”
“Here’s to love, laughter, happiness forever and a round belly!!”

Our Take: Fertility – We are on hold until 2010 at the earliest. It took us 7 years to get married, so baby-making could lag a bit behind expectations.

MITB – Romance
“I saw that kiss you gave her. Matt, give her thousands of those, and Cat, you give them right back.”
“Matt, bring home a nice bunch of flowers for no reason.”
“Love hard and often.”
“Go have sex.”
“I suggest you surf naked in the moonlight.”
“Good lovin’.”
“Withold affection until he loses that extra 40 pounds.”
“Kiss goodnight.”
“Laugh lots. Kiss often. Feel the sand between your toes.”

Our Take: Romance – So, now I have to exercise, learn to surf, and buy dead plants at exhorbitant prices just to satisfy my wife. Married foreplay is tough sledding.

MITB – Compatibility
“You two were made for each other.”
“Life is so great when you spend it with your best friend.”
“You both exude an amazing feeling.”
“Happy Anniversary to the coolest couple we know.”
“You guys are 100% perfect for each other.”
“You are two of the most special people I know.”
“You guys rock!!”
“You inspire us.”
“They are one person. They are two alone. They are three together. They are four each other.”

Our Take – Compatibility – We dated for 7 years, and still learned more about each other in the last year than we did in the first seven. That surprised both of us. It’s remarkable, really.

MITB – Luck
“Best of luck.”
“Good luck.”
“Teo, you’re lucky she married you.”
“Cat, good luck. Ya know you’re stuck with him now.”
“Cheers, salud, prost!!”
“Un fuerte abrazo.”
“Love, peace and chicken grease.”
“You two are lucky to have found each other.”
“Teo, you are a lucky bastard.”

Our Take – Luck – The old saying is, “I’d rather be lucky than good.” We covered our bases. Cat’s good, and I’m lucky to have her.

MITB – Advice
“Never go to bed mad at each other.”
“Love, love, love, love, etc into infinity.”“Spend the rest of your lives filled with the same love…”
“It’s nice to speak to each other in foreign language, so you can claim that you “misunderstood” when you screw up.”
“Have a good communication.”
“Never go to sleep without kissing each other goodnight.”
“When you get mad at each other, just think back to this day and the love that you have for each other.”
“Always say I love you.”
“Have faith during the bad times that things will get good again.”
“Talk when you don’t feel like it.”
“Remember, it’s all about “yes dear” because in the end it doesn’t matter.”
“Take each day as if it is your last and enjoy all that the good Lord has given us.”
“Matt, always try to be nice with her.”
“Pick your battles. It’s OK to lose once in a while.”
“Learn to live it, love it, and trust it.”
“Draw your strength from each other.”
“Know it’s OK to fall, because now there is someone there to pick you up.”
“Patience.”
“Always be honest even if you hurt one another’s feelings.”
“Laughter is medicine. Tell a stupid joke. Do the chicken dance. Pull your underwear up as high as possible.”
“Always remember – we are here to learn and grow.”
“Always have a kind word for each other.”
“Never let the sun go down on your anger.”

Our Take – Advice – We should have opened the MITB a year ago. This is good stuff, and we coulda used it several times this past year. It will go to good use for the next 50 years.

MITB – Curious Comments
“I love your wife.”
“Tell your dad to send me money every month.”
“You made it through your first year…??”
“Call me immediately, and you will receive the rest of this message.”
“Being married is not the same as dating.”
“Marriage is a wonderful institution.”
“I loved the love.”
“I have no advice, as I am not in a position to give any.”
“Thanks for the hot sauce and hard candy.”
“Matt, you still have short legs.”
“Hang on…..I needed to have some more wine….I’m back….”
“Cat, I’m so sorry that Matt has become fat, lazy and out of shape.”
“Pinot Snuggles”
“We all love your wife.”
“Matt, buy cool clothes. Don’t wear a speedo.”
“Let’s be family again.”
“Prec……oh well, can’t spell that word tonight.”

Our Take – Curious Comments – Good to see the open bar was well attended.

MITB – Looking Back
“Thinking back to the first night you met at Rock-N-Bowl. OK, I don’t remember much of that night.”
“Blue tights and hiking boots, bowling shirts, sledding down the street. I feel so lucky to have been there the night you both met, and see how your relationship has grown.”

MITB – Looking Ahead
“We look forward to lots more great times to come.”
“My wish for you is to be as crazy about each other 20, 30, 40, 50 years from now, as you are tonight.”
“It’s smooth sailing from here.”
“And they lived a happy and wild life after that.”

MITB – Blessings
“….a year since I have been praying God’s richest blessing on you and your marriage.”
“We wish you a lifetime of blessings – on the mountaintop and in the valleys.”
“Live your lives as God intended.”
“If you need wisdom, ask God.” James 1:5
“Awesome. One year. Praise God.”
“A family that prays together, stays together.”

MITB – Poetry
“There once was a young man named Matt.
Who found for himself a blonde Cat.

She struck quite a pose
In her New Orleans clothes

And for our young Matt,
That was that.”

Our Take – MITB - Thanks for the laughs, and many fond memories……then and now. You made our wedding day, and you added a certain “hot sauce” and "chicken grease" to our first anniversary.

Love the love,

Speedo-less Matt & Lovely Cat