I believe every special event needs to be celebrated at least in some way.

When I saw on the calendar that our 13th wedding anniversary would take place in two days, I was determined to celebrate it in some way.

At first I didn’t know how we would observe our special day with all the problems we were battling. But I didn’t want our anniversary to be just the same as any other day. I wanted some sort of some special celebration, even though I knew it would have to be low key.

It’s been a year of putting out fires. The most we have managed is getting by, overcoming one problem before being confronted with another one.

I vowed our anniversary would be different.

Midweek, right in between two holidays, there wasn’t much going on.

But I remembered we always wanted to go to the Bean Depot, an old historic roadside eatery in El Jobean with outdoor dining and live music.

When I called to confirm, I learned there would be no music on our anniversary. “Come tomorrow. We’ll have plenty of great music then,” said the hostess.

Stomach-churning news from my insurance company made me lose all thoughts of going out. After waiting for three months for a response from them, the insurance company stunned me by refusing to pay for even the most basic of repairs.

But that was a problem I would tackle on another day.

On this, our wedding anniversary, I was determined to spend the day doing something meaningful.

After the best Maine lobster rolls sent as a surprise by my daughter Andrea, David and I decided to celebrate our marriage by watching our wedding video.

Watching that professional video was almost as meaningful as our wedding day. In some ways it was better because we were more aware of all that was happening.

David proclaimed that, for him, the most wonderful part of the wedding video was watching me walk down the church aisle. He got as emotional as he did on our wedding day.

When we were planning our wedding, we probably did it a bit differently than most couples.

It was a second marriage for each of us and we were both at the age when we had a better grasp of what was important.

That was why we put all our emphasis on the meaningful church ceremony, not on the extraneous things.

I didn’t care about things like carrying our wedding colors into napkins and decorations.

Sure, the reception was special. Bob, my friend and next door neighbor, is the chef at our Golf and Country Club. He’s an outstanding chef and he outdid himself. From start to finish, the food was special.

Kids and grown-ups alike enjoyed the flowing chocolate fountain, dipping strawberries into the melted chocolate.

I had even forgotten we had that chocolate fountain until we watched the wedding video.

But it was in watching the church ceremony that gave us the most meaningful pleasure.

Our favorite part was seeing once again, the Cord of Three Strands ceremony.

The white strand represents the bride; the purple strand represents the groom and the gold strand represents God.

During the wedding ceremony the groom holds the top ring connecting the cords while the bride braids the strands together, symbolizing the union between husband, wife and God.

Personally, I found the three strand ceremony to be deeply moving, both during the church ceremony and forever after.

When we think of our marriage uniting us together with God, it changes our interaction throughout the marriage.

I know it has made a big difference for me. I might get upset with David and he might get upset with me (even if he won’t admit it) but knowing God is the center of our marriage has a major impact. We realize we are called to maintain the unity of three.

To tell the truth, there are times when I get upset with something David says, so upset that I want to stay angry because I’m hurt. But I can’t stay angry because I feel called upon to uphold the unity of the three strands.

As we watched our wedding video on our anniversary, it brought to the forefront the sacredness of our marriage. Watching the video was the most meaningful thing we could do on our anniversary.

Another part of our wedding ceremony that was unique was the arch of kayak paddles. As we walked down the aisle after the ceremony members of our kayak club held the long kayak paddles under which we walked to exit the church.

In watching the video it was fun to see the surprise and laughter.

Those kayak paddles were symbolic of the fun of our marriage, just as the cord of three strands was symbolic of the sanctity of our union.

It was also fun to watch all that happened during our wedding reception.

I don’t believe most brides and grooms are acutely aware of others during the reception. There was so much in our reception that we missed until we saw the video.

I was thrilled to see my friends Lenny and Rose Ann lighting up the dance floor for dance after dance.

We loved seeing everyone at the reception having fun.

We sure had fun watching it. Our anniversary celebration was perfect - low key and ever so meaningful.

Contact Pattie Mihalik at newsgirl@comcast.net.