A quarter century of change

There it is, the remains of the last glass of a set that we bought with our wedding gift money twenty-seven years ago. Gabe knocked it off the table.

I went back to my wedding album to see if the glasses were a gift or if they'd been purchased by us with the gift money. In light of the five rather recent weddings of my own children it was fun to look through the way it was for us.

We had a small wedding, fewer than 80 guests. We received $295 in cash (on our college student budget that was half a month's living expenses). We didn't need to purchase dishes, cutlery, knives, cookbooks, bakeware, pots and pans, or any other kitchen items (except glasses). We received 3 sheet sets, two towel sets, and several wedding memory items (figurine, picture frame, cross stitch).

We only received one very strange, probably a re-gift, gift. It came from someone I didn't know at the time and is still a name I don't recognize so I think I'm safe to mention it without the offended party reading up about it here.

It was an electric hot dog cooker. I tend to try to find a use for anything and everything, but that one baffled me. I never found cooking hotdogs--open fire, boiling water, broiler, microwave--to be a challenge worthy of its own appliance. I try to imagine the market strategy for such a gadget--"Tired of waiting around for your hot dogs to cook? Tired of not knowing if they're done? You can now cook every hot dog to perfection! No timing! No checking! Just set the cooker and wait for the bell." We passed off the hot dog cooker as a gag gift to Keith's roommate when he got married...I sure hope we gave him more than just that, but I don't remember.

That one broken butterfly glass opened a bag of memories that seemed so recent, but upon closer inspection were actually an awful long time ago. The saying must hold that time flies when you're having fun.