20 years

8/20/19 • 2 min read

This post was originally posted on August 21, 2019 on Sketchbook B. It’s reposted here as part of a project to move some of my favorite writing to my new site.

Celebrating two decades (!) of marriage

Twenty years ago today was a typical summer Saturday in South Carolina — sun-drenched, oppressively hot and miserably humid. A perfect day to be at the beach or in the pool with a cool drink in your hand.

I was wearing a black tux.

Getting married in the middle of summer wasn’t the best idea I’ve ever had, but marrying Liz was. Today, Liz and I celebrate our 20th wedding anniversary. Over the last two decades we’ve had our fair share of high and low points. We’ve welcomed three amazing kiddos into the world and we’ve mourned the loss of close family. We’ve struggled together through career changes and grad school. We’ve learned to be parents together. (Hell, we’ve learned to be adults together.) We’ve watched good movies and really cheesy made-for-TV Christmas movies.

Liz is an amazing partner. Smart, curious, patient, kind, talented, supportive. She’s my best friend and she’s even more amazing today than the day I met her.

The funniest thing about our August anniversary is how ridiculously inconvenient it is. Liz didn’t originally plan on being a teacher, so we didn’t think about the fact that our August anniversary would pretty much be the first day of school every year. It seems like every year — just like we did this morning — we celebrate our anniversary by taking the traditional first day of school pictures on the front steps before sunrise and then have dinner with the family to celebrate the new school year.

I wouldn’t have it any other way.

How we celebrate our anniversary now…

Bob Wertz writes about design, technology and pop culture at Sketchbook B. Bob is a Columbia, South Carolina-based designer, researcher, college instructor, husband and dad. He’s particularly obsessed with typography, the creative process and the tools we use to create.