18 years ago, Today.

Editors Note: You knew this was coming Dear :)

Eighteen years ago today, on January 17th, 1987, at the Scarsdale Synagogue - Tremont Temple, Valorie Lynne Holden and Lawrence William Osterman were married.  I still have a laminated copy of our wedding announcement from the local paper in Albany, NY:

HOLDEN - OSTERMAN

  Plans for a Jan. 17 wedding are being made by Miss Valerie Lynn Holden and Lawrence William Osterman.  The bride-to-be is the daughter of Patricia Holden of Annapolis, Md and her fiancé is the son of Melvin H. Osterman, Darnley Greene, Delmar, and Elaine P. Osterman of Scarsdale, Westchester County.  Miss Holden is a student at George Mellon University, Pittsburgh, Pa.  Her fiancé is a senior computer programming engineer with Microsoft Corp., Redmond, Wash.

Never mind the spelling errors (it's Valorie not Valerie) and the factual errors in the piece (there's no George Mellon University), I still treasure that scrap of paper.

Valorie and I started dating back in October of 1982 (we came out of the closet and announced our couplehood while working as roadies on a Clash concert.

Valorie's stuck with me for well 20 years now, through business trips to Europe (I left on one 36 hours after we returned from our honeymoon), six months where I commuted between Redmond and Austin Tx - Monday-Wednesday in Austin, Thursday-Sunday in Redmond.

She's been there through the entire lifetime NT 3.1, with all its ups and downs, she was there for Exchange 4.0, 5.0, 5.5, and 2000, and she's still there.

She's been there through the birth of our children Daniel and Sharron.

She's been there through nine different cats (four currently), countless tropical fish, a dog, and two horses.

She's nursed me through a debilitating back injury.

She's put her own career ambitions on hold for our family, only now, twelve years later, going back to school for her teachers certificate.  She's spent countless hours in our children's classrooms making a difference for every child in those classrooms.  

She's been there for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, for fatter, for thinner, in sickness and in health.

'Til death do we part.

 

Happy Anniversary, Valorie.

I love you.