1997

On this day in 1997 (well, it was a Sunday, actually), FKGuy and I were married. It was a lovely, sunny South Florida day. Wait, scratch that. It was summer in South Florida and therefore rained. A lot. But the wedding was entirely indoors (it was August in Florida, I’m not a total fool) and it was a lot of fun. The band was great, the food was yummy, the wine sucked (it was a Kosher affair – what can you do?) and everyone had a good time. It doesn’t really seem like it was fourteen years ago.

On August 31, 1997 Princess Diana died. It had quite a surprising effect on my life: most of my friends now remember my anniversary. They see the news reminding us that today is the day and then they call, text or email. Hey, it is better than I can do. I call my friends and say things like “Happy anniversary. I know it was Memorial Day weekend, so it must be sometime around now…” or “It was really cold for your outdoor cocktail hour, so the anniversary must be coming up soon, right?” They have it much easier. They all have news personalities to remind them. Of course my birthday is Christmas Eve and there are still a few that can’t remember that one.

A lot of other fun – and not so fun – things happened in 1997, for example:

• Wheel of Fortune went digital. No more turning of the letters for Vanna.
• Good Will Hunting came out and people started using “How do you like them apples” in everyday conversation, generally with a badly imitated Boston accent.
• We laughed, we cried, we saw Titanic over and over again. Actually, I only saw it once, which was plenty.
• Pete Sampras was still playing tennis, and while he was at it, he won the Australian Open and Wimbledon.
• Elvis Presley had been dead for 20 years. We went to the candlelight vigil at Graceland the day before our friend’s wedding
• Bill Clinton was president. I’m not going to go there…
• 1997 was the first time the Dow Jones closed over 7,000.
• Gianni Versace was shot dead at his South Beach mansion.
• The Florida Marlins won the world series.

Tonight, to celebrate this day in 1997, we will (hopefully) be dining at Brexi Brasserie in Aspen. Why did I chose there? Wednesday the Plat du Jour is Sole Meuniere. I’ll have a full recap next week so stay tuned to see if the buttery fish lives up to my expectations.