June 11: 30th Anniversary…almost

June 11, 1994

June 11, 1988, Fraser and I ‘made it official’ to ‘go out’ with each other. June 11, 1994, Fraser and I were married. As the cliché goes, ‘I married my best friend’ (whom else would one marry?!) and my high school sweetheart. This year would have been our 30th Wedding Anniversary. 30!

I’m kind of in disbelief that, first, I am old enough to have been married for that long!! Child bride, obviously! Second, 30 years?! And third, how is he not here to celebrate with me. One more ‘first’, without him, checked off.

Fraser was nervous about marriage as he didn’t want to rush things. Fair enough, but we had been dating 4.5 yrs when we got engaged and 6 years when we were married! He liked absolutes. I assured him I was willing to do whatever I could to make it work, and if it wasn’t working, well, we’d just figure it out then! I’m far more of a risker and figured things work out as they should. And it did…mostly. I would totally write a different ending!! This one sucks! But, here we are, or, here I am, 30 years later…and still wishing for  more.

We had a good run, Fraser and I. We were at a new phase of our lives. We made it this far and we were planning, with a bit more seriousness, our retirement. To be truthful, more, ‘his’ retirement. He would joke that I was semi-retired but he liked it that way. I got to stay home with our kids and he liked that I had the flexibility to go on trips with him with not much notice. We’ve had some amazing adventures! And it wasn’t that we went to super exotic places, but we were together.

Our first adventure as a married couple was our honeymoon. We didn’t have a lot of money left after our wedding so we decided to splurge and spend one evening at the Banff Springs Hotel. We had a mountain view and the room was tiny, but we splurged, and that’s where we got engaged a year and a half prior so it had a special place in our hearts. We could only afford one night so we continued on to Waterton and chose a beautiful, private campsite and set up camp outside our truck (it was a red Ford Explorer and Fraser’s first new vehicle).

Now, he’s not here to share his story, so, once again, lucky you, you get MY version. But I will also share his because it’s only fair, (although mine is obviously the true version).

I liked camping, but if Pinterest existed back then I’m positive camping wouldn’t be anywhere in one of my ‘honeymoon’ files! Glamping maybe, but not Honeymoon tenting. But, we didn’t have Pinterest to try and attain unreasonable expectations, it was what we could afford and we did like nature, so, camping it was! Our first ‘real’ holiday, to somewhere warm, was on our 10th anniversary when we went to Mexico. (He had gotten his first bonus and came home with a new tv; I had booked flights to Mexico…we did both)

Back to camping (glamping wasn’t a thing back then!). We woke earlier in the morning as it had gotten quite cold in our tent. All the more reason to snuggle…but we had to leave the tent eventually! When we opened the tent it had snowed overnight.

Ew.

So, (my version), we(?) decided that totally sucked and we hadn’t really packed for snow in June! I couldn’t wait for the foot(!) of snow to melt (it may have been a skiff, but still, ew), so we joyfully*, but quickly packed up our gear, took the tent down and decided to head to a lower altitude. We held each other’s hand as we sang songs and drove to our next destination* (*some of that may or may not have happened in either scenario)

Fraser’s version: Brooke saw the snow, started the car and sat in it while he cleared our entire campsite.😆 We still had different versions, 29+ yrs later as to what happened that day. Obviously my version has more merit, or maybe, just maybe, the truth lies between both perspectives. In hindsight we should have spent our last night in a fancy hotel, not the first! And even if he did have to clean the entire campsite, we were still together almost 30 years later!

So, off we went to a new adventure and 30 years later we were still planning more. Fraser has gifted me the opportunity to carry on our retirement dream, although, as with some dreams, the details are different; he’s not here (HUGE detail!) but the gist of it is there.

Introducing, VanGoh! We talked about grabbing our golf clubs, bikes and heading off when we had some time. So, here I go, when I feel the call.

My new VanVenture! My first trip is driving home from Courtenay, BC. My brother happened to be flying to Vancouver the same day I would be driving through (June 11), so he brought a Scotch from Fraser’s collection (chosen by Connor and Caelin). Surrounded by family; my brother, my Mom and some wonderful cousins, we took a moment to honour our accomplishment. To 30 years my Love. Sláinte (slahn -gee)

Fraser really outdid himself on my gift this year. Sure wish he was here to share it with me💕

xo,

Brooke