7 years on

Two weeks ago Aya and I were sitting on the couch talking about how our eighth anniversary was special because eight is a lucky number and how maybe on our tenth we would return to Hawaii with our parents to celebrate. It wasn’t until we had been chatting for some time that we realized it hasn’t been eight years, but seven. Lucky for me, Aya got my wedding band inscribed with the date so I could double check.

Seven years have gone by in the blink of an eye.  It is an annual tradition for us to recount the past year’s anniversaries, a way to keep alive the memories of those days. There was our first when we went to the “small” town of Hangzhou (2.4 million people) to enjoy the lake view (packed with people and smoggy). On our fourth I surprised her with a flight to Singapore (we lived in Penang, so it was like 50 dollars a ticket!). There we rode the giant Ferris wheel on the waterfront. Aya told me she got upset with me and I can remember that, but I don’t remember why. On our second we went to the Pearl Tower in Shanghai and ate at the rotating restaurant, but our third isn’t clear. We think we had a nice dinner at the Shangri-La in Penang. That is the story we will stick to, it seems.

I guess that happens as time goes on. You tend to forget the details, but it is the big picture that matters. As we talked about the past our conversation also moved to the future. Where would we be next year? What do you want to do for our eighth? It is a lucky number, you know. We should tell our parents now about our plans for the tenth anniversary. What about your parents retirement plans?

Time goes so fast, just the blink of an eye.