February 12th is our anniversary. “Aww, a valentine wedding.” Umm, no. Nope, a wedding date that the Air Force wasn’t supposed to interfere with. Note that key word “supposed” –yeah, I didn’t think you’d miss that.

Back in 1993, The Amazing Sleeping Man and I were both on active duty in different squadrons on different bases in the Colorado Springs, CO area. 99% of the time, being in different units as a married couple is a very good thing. But, when it comes to long-range scheduling, it’s not. Why?

Because the military didn’t issue you a family and they don’t care about your personal issues. So, in the fall of 1992, we looked at our long-range schedules and saw February 12th was the first Friday we both had off for sure and after that, our schedules might change significantly. We set the date and rushed through the wedding prep.

Fast forward to January 1993. Surprise! An inspection got added to Matt’s unit, starting the Monday after our wedding. Grrr. And of course his boss insisted he had to be there, even though they knew Matt was leaving his unit soon. And, during the inspection, he didn’t get asked One. Single. Question. Nope, not one. Double grrrrr.

So, our honeymoon got reduced to a single weekend and now we’re stuck with a V-Day anniversary, even though that wasn’t our intent at all. But… there’s plenty of heart-shaped dark chocolate to be found at this time of year, there’s snow for skiing/boarding and not too many restaurants around here require reservations, so it’s all good.

And if someone I don’t know says “Aww, a Valentine’s Day wedding,” I just smile and nod. That’s right, we’re romantic like that. Come on, honey, let’s go blow holes in paper! Bring the .45 pistol, just like our first date! Yep, nothing says romance like semi-auto fire power or flying down snowy slopes full of trees on waxed boards.

Hmm, maybe V-Day actually stands for Velocity Day?

Yeah, Velocity Day. That’s our kind of holiday. Full speed ahead for the next 31 years of marriage!