Happy Anniversary

Joe, Julie, Caiti, Cisco, Vince, me, Sandy, Mac, Guerneville, California

A year ago at this time, I was with my family in California celebrating my parents’ 50th wedding anniversary, an achievement reserved for the few, the little bit crazy, the ever-loving lucky. Four of my siblings may also win this gold medal. This week my parents are celebrating their 51st so Happy Anniversary!

Nostalgia time! I can almost remember when I first learned “100 Bottles of Beer on the Wall,” one of the ditties my parents taught the kids to sing in lieu of squabbling during trips to Arizona, Yosemite, and Utah. I thought it was the most hilarious and grand thing ever and how it was so great that “100 Bottles of Coke on the Wall” just didn’t sound right. That’s a lot of beer, I thought. What kind of weirdo puts 100 bottles of beer on a wall? Did my parents really sing this in college at parties all the way to zero and then start over? So easy to get with the program. Take one down! Pass it around!

We would all sing some rounds and then the older kids would get bored and drop out one by one and then the younger kids would sing it longer to show off how they could rock counting backwards. Finally, silence would break out in the car for a while until a smarty pants like me would start in with “A Million Bottles of Beer on the Wall.” Good times. Are we there yet?