25 Years into the Future
My husband, Neil, and I, have a lot of happy memories of our lives together over the past twenty five years. When we mentioned to our kids that we were thinking about having a celebration and if they had any ideas of what to do, we were surprised to learn that they had already started planning a party for us.
Sammy, Melanie and Eli got together and made a list of everyone we knew. They sent out invitations to about forty friends and relatives. The theme of the party was "What will Neil and Jill's 50th Anniversary be like?" The idea was for everyone to write a prediction for what our life would be like in twenty five years. It sounded like a great idea.
I could tell the predictions were going to be good when friends and relatives kept calling to ask us questions, like "Didn't you once say you wanted to have a nose job?" or "When did you go grey?"
The party was held in a small banquet room at a hotel. A lovely Sunday buffet brunch, was set out over two long tables. The tables had futuristic looking centrepieces with lots of tiny toy spaceships, plastic aliens and futuristic toy cars. A poster sized photo of our wedding day hung on the wall, but at the time I saw it I didn't realise the podium set up was going to be used. Little did I know that the kids had planned for all the guests to read their predictions?
After everyone had mostly finished eating, Eli went to the podium to welcome everyone and said it was time to begin the reading of the predictions. Of course, Eli and the girls went first. They predicted that within the next ten years Neil would be mostly grey and I would go back to selling Avon, like I did when they were little, and one (though they all claimed it would be one of their siblings) would be married with a grandchild on the way.
Some of the predictions were very sentimental and almost made me cry. It was so nice to have friends who could express their wishes for our happiness. Most were humorous, though no matter how outrageous they were none seemed beyond all possibility. Well, all except the one about Neil winning a huge lottery jackpot and us moving to Fiji. Eli took photos of our reactions to each of the speakers. After the readings were finished the papers were folded up and put into a printed envelope with our names embossed and the date on the back. "In case you forget when the twenty five years started." Eli added. Now, that was funny!
The waiting staff brought out a giant cake with a caricature of Neil and me as George and Jane Jetson riding in their family vehicle. When I noticed we looked a little older in the caricature than we did now, Eli told us the picture was made by a computer portrait artist who enhanced a photo of us with an age simulator. Neil and I thought the portrait was very creative, but I hoped my chin really wasn't going to sag like that in twenty-five years. While Neil and I ate cake and chatted with our friends and family I was overwhelmed by the tremendous feeling of love we had for each other, as well as for those around us. I was glad my kids threw such a great party; it was a perfect way to celebrate a quarter of a century of marriage.
