Today, I’m thinking of anniversaries while we wait for the arrival of our first grandchild. Answer the question in this post to enter the drawing for a book from my backlist, winner’s choice from what I have in stock. Deadline: March 9th, 11:59 pm central time:
If you’re married, do you remember what you did for your first anniversary? Ours fell on a weekday and I had a sinus infection. On the way to the doctor, I stopped at a stop sign behind another car. The lady in front of me pulled out in front of oncoming traffic and got hit, then pushed back into me. No one was hurt.
I just sat in my car, engine running. I was not quite twenty and inexperienced. I didn’t even think about police, damage to my car, or insurance. I was actually waiting for the lady who caused the whole thing to move her car so I could go on to my doctor appointment.
Until the lady who lived in the house where it happened came over and asked me if I was okay. She told me to turn my car off and that she’d called the police, then asked if I needed to call anyone. About that time, I realized it was lunch hour and my husband or his numerous coworkers would probably drive by and see my car. I was afraid Grant would be worried.
Since this was long before cell phones, I asked the lady from the house if I could use her phone. I called Grant.
Me: “I’ve been in an accident and it wasn’t my fault.”
Grant: “Are you okay? Where are you?”
Somebody outside: “The police are here and want to talk to you.”
Me: “I have to go, the police are here.”
He promptly freaked out, left work, and drove around looking for me. As I was talking to the police, he found me. It’s a small town and back then it only had one main road. Once he made sure I was okay and my car was still drivable, he went back to work. The police let me go and I went to my doctor appointment. A few minutes after they called me back, a nurse came in and said my parents were there, all worried because I’d been in accident.
Grant failed to tell me he’d called my parents to see if they knew where I was. They freaked out and he forgot to tell them he found me and I was okay. So they drove around until they found the scene, where the smashed car that caused it all was getting towed, with glass everywhere. The police told them I went to the doctor.
Since they didn’t know that’s where I was headed to begin with, they freaked out even more. By the time they found me in the doctor’s office, my mom had hives and they wanted to treat her. It was a memorable anniversary. The morale of the story—If you get in accident and call your husband, tell him you’re okay and the car is drivable. Or don’t call anyone. Despite our infamous first anniversary, we’ll celebrate forty this year.
For our son’s first anniversary, our daughter-in-law set up a gender reveal party. Logan and Hannah didn’t know what they were having until the reveal. She had her doctor send the results to her coworker, who kept the secret and ordered fireworks. The evening of the reveal, a few friends and family gathered at their house. We had pizza and mountain dew as we waited for all the guests to arrive and for it to get dark.
It was in November, but in Arkansas, that can be warm or cold. It was a nice, jacket-free night. As the sky turned black, they set off fireworks.
The sky lit up with pink.
Me: “It’s a girl!”
But then the sky turned blue.
Me: “It’s a boy?”
Grant: “It’s twins!”
Hannah: “No!”
But then it was pink, then blue again. And I realized it was a suspense reveal, building for the finale burst of . . .
Pink!
Yep, it’s a girl.
Ember Lea Vannatter will make her appearance in late April or early May. We can’t wait to spoil her. In fact, it seems like this is the longest pregnancy ever.
Question for Readers: What’s something memorable from an important event in your life?
About Shannon: Award winning author, Shannon Taylor Vannatter writes contemporary Christian cowboy romance and has over a dozen published titles. A romance reader since her teens, she hopes to entertain Christian women and plant seeds in the non-believer’s heart as she demonstrates that love doesn’t conquer all—Jesus does.
She gleans fodder for her fiction in rural Arkansas where she spent her teenage summers working the concession stand with her rodeo announcing dad and married a Texan who morphed into a pastor. Shannon is Scrivenings Press Acquisitions/Content Editor for Contemporary titles. In her spare time, she loves hanging out with her husband and adult son, flea marketing, and doing craft projects. Learn more & connect:
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Wow! Didn’t sound like the best of first anniversaries. For our first anniversary hubby and I decided to go back to St. Thomas where we spent our honeymoon. For the most part it was great but one day we decided to go snorkeling on a catamaran. Even though I am not a great swimmer I let hubby talk me into using flippers and unfortunately due to my lack of experience with them I nearly drowned. Then I heard that one of the other swimmers encountered a barracuda. Needless to say, I spent the rest of the time on the boat relaxing. I decided snorkeling was just not for me.
Oh my Cherie, you are a wise woman. I’d have stayed in the boat too. It would be fun and amazing to see all the sea creatures down there, but I’m not that brave. I’ve been to the ocean twice. I’m content to wade the shore and shell.
We’ve spent our first wedding anniversary with a newborn baby 🙂 but my hubby made it special by ordering flowers from Hawaii (our honeymoon destination).
How sweet, Natalya. Sounds like a good anniversary to me.
I became my nephew’s godmother at his baptism.
That’s awesome, Diana.
I have a winner! Diana Hardt won the drawing. I appreciate everyone who stopped by.