The following was written to accompany our wedding gift to good friends:
Stan and I were married (some years ago) on June 20, and much to our joy, we received a wonderful wedding gift from our friends Lee and Don McLoughlin. Lee and Don had assembled a case of wine from many countries, producers, varieties and styles. But what made it really special was that each bottled was labelled to be opened on a particular “monthiversary.” So, for us, the first bottle said, “to be opened on your first monthiversary, July 20” and so on, until the final bottle, which was for our twelfth monthiversary, or our first anniversary, on June 20.
Well, this was just about the coolest gift, we thought, as budding wine lovers. But what turned out to make it really so special, was that it gave us the reason to remember to celebrate every monthiversary in that first year of our marriage. It gave us the ever-elusive gift of time. A few days before each monthiversary, Stan would go down to the cellar, and report back to me which wine was the next one that we would celebrate with. Then I would plan a meal that I thought would set the wine off to advantage. We never missed a single monthiversary in that first year.
In fact, we both thought it was such a wonderful idea that, independently of each other, we decided to continue it into our second year. For our anniversary, my gift to Stan was another case of wine, this time all reds (his preference) and all from Ontario (which was becoming our passion). I drove to 12 different wineries to make sure I was buying bottles that could not be acquired at the LCBO. Then on our anniversary, I handed Stan a card that said, “Your gift is waiting for you in the basement.” Stan gave me a card that said, “Your gift is waiting for you in the garage.” As we burst out laughing, we each went in search of our gifts, and came back toting a case each of new monthiversary wines! What a delight to also find out how many of the same wines we each had sourced! Again, for a year, we never missed a monthiversary (although some nights we didn’t consume both bottles!)
We loved this gift and the extra joy it brought to our celebration of our marriage and of each other. We couldn’t think of a more appropriate gift for the two of you. The fact that wine is important to you is such a bonus, but what is most important to you is each other, and taking the time to remember that.
Linda and Ben are delighted to join with Stan and I in assembling this special case of delicious Ontario wines for your first year. We shopped at some of our favourite producers and we made selections in our own cellars. Enjoy each wine for its uniqueness, as we continue to enjoy you both for yours.
And when you share these bottles, and you are thinking of Linda, Ben, Elena and Stan, take a minute to thank Lee and Don too, who we all have to thank for this.
With gratitude to Lee and Don, I share this wonderful idea and hope you will be inspired to use it for someone special in your life, to celebrate a special time in theirs. If you do, I'd love to hear your experience.
Winestains
