Today is my wife’s and my 26th anniversary. Wow, where did all the time go?

When we first got married, neither of us had started our careers yet. We were living rent free in an old house owned by my parents. I was doing some part-time editing work for a non-profit organization.  We were just happy to be together. We watched a lot of evening television since that didn’t require any money. We would also pass time dreaming about our future, such as raising a big family some day.

On occasions, we would spurge by running out to a nearby McDonald’s and ordering sundaes at 50 cents each. I always got the caramel with nuts and she the chocolate fudge. We would savor each bite, giggling at the pleasures of those simple treats. Since then, we’ve had some great moments during the next 26 years but I will never forget the pure joy of sharing time together over those sundaes.

No award-winning creme brulee or chocolate souffle could ever replicate what those 50-cent McDonald’s sundaes represented to us back then. They proved that the simplest of treats could conjure up lifelong bonding moments when dreaming of a common goal together.