DECEMBER SEVENTEENTH

Meet Gilberto. Gilberto is the creation of Lynne Hoppe. Perhaps you might remember him from her posting if you follow her blog. Lynne is a very special person. You can see how touched by nature she is when you visit her blog and see her postings of her spirit trees and all the great "people" who come through to her and make themselves known on pages in books, pages on muslin journals, and even on sticks.

Gilberto was one of those "people" who came through and made himself known on a muslin journal page. I am the proud owner of Gilberto now and I have fallen in love with him. Actually, I fell in love with his photo before I even saw him "in person". What a great face...what a great nose...what a great guy! And I love his name...Gilberto!!!! (Pronounced Gil Bear Toe).

And, as a bonus...this lady (I don't know her name Lynne) was on the back of Gilberto. She is just as wonderful and will forever keep Gilberto company, sandwiched in between glass in a frame. I have made a photo copy of her so that I don't forget her face. Lynne has kindly signed the side of the page that she is on. I am such a lucky person to have these two among my art collection now.

Her eyes and nose with a small blemish above her nose. We are not all perfect, are we!

That wonderful mouth, nose and blemish.

Today is my 37th Wedding Anniversary. I can hardly believe that I have been married this long. I knew when I met B that it would be forever though. He was one of the only people in my entire life that ever made me feel safe and protected. He promised me when we met that he would always take care of me and he always has. He worked one job at Placer County for 30 years for me and my twins, commuting daily over 35 miles one way to his job. We were never without the essentials, were always warm and fed, and always knew we could count on him to take care of us.

When we first decided to get married we were living in Siskiyou County in a town called Ft. Jones. We lived in a 30 foot school bus! When we decided to get married we drove all night long through a snow storm from Mt. Shasta to Virginia City, cross country. Somewhere between Mt. Shasta and Lake Almanor on a two-lane road, we came across a tree that was down across the road. Snow was falling on our windshield and the roads were covered in white. There was no slamming on the brakes and avoiding this tree so we slowed as best we could and actually drove right over the tree. My car alignment was never the same from that point on every time I had to drive 60 MPH or higher. We ended up selling that car a few months later.

But, we arrived safely in Virgina City, went to the County Courthouse and applied for a marriage license. The secretary told us that the judge was down in the local bar having a beer; we would have to go find him there. B went inside; I stayed in the car waiting. A few moments later I saw B motioning toward me to come inside. "IN THERE?" I said. "YES"! So, we both walked inside of the Silver Queen Hotel where the judge asked us if we had our rings. NO. "Do you have witnesses?" No. "Well, I've got a couple of buddies here at the bar. They'll be your witnesses". So, we walked into the wedding chapel with a couple of witnesses pulled from the bar and said our vows. We've never regretted that decision yet. Oh sure...there have been moments where we have butted heads and had a few arguments but nothing has ever made us abandon each other. There were people that we knew that thought that our marriage would never last because we were so vocal (read yelling at each other occasionally...remember: we're both Taurus'---we lock horns quite often). But, we have always been there for each other and I imagine we always will be. We have become part of each other. We think alike, we sometimes even dress in the same colors without knowing, we both work hard and we have a dedication to our family and ourselves that is steadfast. To us, honesty and open communication are of the utmost importance although we are constantly working on our communication skills. That is important. We tell each other everything. We don't hold any secrets from each other. We know each other's worst aspects but still love each other. I expect to celebrate many more years with this man.

Lynne...thank you for Gilberto. He arrived for my anniversary and will be a constant reminder of where he came from (close to where we got married) and will make me smile every time I look at him. He's the best!