There are many wonderful, happy things about being married to my beautiful wife, beginning with her heart-melting smile, her magnificently lit eyes, and her effervescent giggle. But in addition to all her natural beauty, strength, and wonder that make her delicious, she knows how to punctuate our life together with celebrations. And why not? We figure the more reasons to celebrate, the better. For example, while every happily married couple celebrates their wedding anniversary, we wonder why they celebrate just one; what about the others?

Our first anniversary is this weekend (October 20). I don’t mean the first anniversary of our wedding; I mean the first of a string of anniversaries we celebrate all year long. This weekend begins our annual series of anniversaries, our high holidays.

“How many anniversaries do you have?” my youngest daughters asked recently when they saw the red hearts drawn on the family calendar. “You got married in April.”

“Well,” I said. “Instead of just one anniversary, we have a bowlful, something like a bowlful of M&Ms,” I told them. “That way we can just reach in and enjoy one whenever we want.”

And I’m not that far off. For example, we celebrate this Saturday night because two years ago the Universe placed us together on e-Harmony. I still remember the moment I discovered our match. The voltage running through me was the same as if I had first seen her framed through a camera lens, backlit under some apple tree and slowly turning towards me in a movie.

“So what’s next weekend, then?” the pesky 9-year-old continued her line of questioning. “There’s a red heart there too!”

“Yes, that’s another anniversary. You see, your step-mom responded a week after our match was made (October 27). That was our second M&M.”

“What other anniversaries are there?” pesky continued. “I guess when you finally met, huh?”

“Yes, but not so fast. There are a few M&Ms in between.”

“How many?”

“Let’s see, there’s the first “real” e-mail we sent outside of e-Harmony (November 3), the first time she finally sent me a photograph (November 4). . . .”

“You hadn’t even seen what she looked like?”

“That’s right, and she sent a fuzzy, dark, out-of focus picture. It wasn’t until later that I got a decent picture. In fact, she suggested our first phone call (November 7), instead of connecting with me on LinkedIn because of the photo of her there. Then there’s Avocado Day (November 14), finally meeting her in person Thanksgiving weekend (November 27), the day we decided to get married (November 28), the proposal (December 31), her visit here with her daughter to meet you guys (February 23), the wedding (April 10), and our arrival via U-Haul (August 3). Let’s see, 1,2,3….10! Adding the October two, that’s twelve—one anniversary for each month!”

“That’s a lot of M&Ms, dad.”

“Yes, sweetie, that’s a lot of M&Ms; we Love M&Ms!”

Happy anniversaries, Love!