I woke up today with the feeling that March was going to be a special month for all of us! Then I realized it would signify that my marriage was twelve years old. How fast time has flown! It seemed just like it was only yesterday that my husband and I were wedded--two immature youngsters who had decided to spend the rest of their lives together! Today, we were parents of young children ourselves--two of them. We live in a nice old rambling house, but have debts to pay off still!

This day was considered very special in our house. As young children, we would count our pennies and coins with care, since we wanted to gift our parents the best anniversary present ever! The perfect card was hunted out, even if it took weeks to do so! And best of all, we bought all the ingredients for a cake and baked it ourselves! Truly their wedding anniversary was something to look forward to!

One incident that I remember clearly is the time when my mother expressed a fondness for everything "rattan and wicker". So one of the best gifts that we could find for her was a small wicker basket, which we got from a small shop in town. The basket contained five coasters which had intricate wicker frames to them. Each coster had an Asian-styled water color painting covered by glass. Falling in love with the basket and its contents, my sisters and I bought the basket for around $7.50, from the customer service desk. After the taxes were cut, we still had three dollars left with us! That was enough to get a wonderful wrapping paper to cover the gift, and even a bow.

Unfortunately, the coaster set was "harmed" many years later. Our mother happened to take a swipe at a coffee table with her arm during an argument with our father. This coffee table had the coaster set that we had purchased with such reverence and regard for our parents. I can never remember that day without feeling a tinge of sadness and pain.

Yes, there were plenty of battles on their life's journey, but our parents stayed with each other. And we were able to celebrate each wedding anniversary with some kind of celebration or the other. Yes, our gifts as adults were costlier than the ones we used to buy when we were children. Now they were cards with best wishes and some expensive item which was bought with all our money pooled together. Despite everything, it is the wicker basket with the coaster set that has remained in everyone's memory as the best and most caring gift of all. Due to the battle of yesteryears, the coaster set was broken in some places and scratched in others. But it occupies a pride of place on top of a shelf, put there by our parents to remind them of our love for them. It is also a reminder that their marriage survived the storms over the years and the fact that they have spent so much time together.

For our own children and in our own marriage, we too hold wedding anniversary celebrations in high esteem. Our children love to make special cards, we always have a cake and every year we can look forward to a special wedding anniversary gift from our two wonderful kids!