John started a new job in August, and since then he has been asking me (repeatedly) to gather some photos of the two of us to display in his office. So I purchased a frame that would hold 19 photos, and I came home to start picking the ones I wanted to include.
The only problem was, I found over 100.
So I decided to take a different approach. Using Shutterfly, I made two posters that would hold 30 photos each. I love looking at all of these reminders of how much fun we have together.
I’m so lucky to have you as my partner John Hetrick! Thank you for 21 wonderful years, and here’s to (at least) 21 more.
Twenty years ago (in January 1994) I was living in Tempe AZ in a 3 BR condo with two roommates who were both in the ASU MFA program. My roommate Pete had a best friend named Tom who had a roommate named John.
John and I had met several times, and one day he asked me to go shopping with him because he was teaching a large lecture class that spring and his mother had given him lots of new shirts and pants and he wanted help picking out ties. Shopping?! I said sign me up. So we went and bought ties, then we went and had a beer, and then we went and had a snack, and then we rarely spent a day apart for the next 20 years.
How did I fall in love with John? Here are just a few of the many answers: He makes me laugh. He’s super smart. He’s adorable. He reads. He loves to travel. He can run really fast. He’s a great cook. When he picks me up from the airport he always puts a present in the passenger’s seat. He likes movies. He buys me a dress every year for my birthday. He likes dogs. He likes shopping. He loved his mother very much. He goes to sleep early. He is very generous. He doesn’t lose his keys. He tells me when my outfit looks good (or bad). He drives. He brings me roses. He loves me back.
During the first 3 years of our relationship John and I were both finishing grad school: he was in the Geography Department studying Fluvial Geomorphology and I was in the English Department getting my MFA in Poetry. We were really poor. But we managed to drive his ancient Honda CRX all over Arizona to do backpacking trips in remote canyons.
In August of 1996 we both got real jobs. John started at the Arizona Department of Water Resources (he later went to work for Salt River Project). I got a full-time position teaching at Arizona State University. So we bought a house in Tempe, got two cats, and started saving for retirement.
In 1999 John’s nephew Ryan (who was in the peace corps in Bolivia) asked us to meet him in Venezuela. We did, and we loved it. The next year John’s friend Kirk asked us to go to China with him and his soon-to-be wife Corinne. We did, and we loved it. That was when John and I made a promise to each other to travel to a “new to both of us” country every year, and we’ve been doing that for 15 years strong.
In 2003 we moved into a house near South Mountain in Phoenix so that John’s mom could live with us. We were so lucky to have her company until she passed away in 2005. We still live in that house with 2 plucky Vizslas and plenty of art that we have collected from our travels. We’re looking forward to retiring in not too many years so that we can do some volunteer service abroad.
I remember meeting one of John’s friends for the very first time (Scott Sherwood, in the first picture below). He asked me, “What do you see in this guy?”
The answer was so easy! I said, “He brings me such joy.”
That was in 1994, and now that it’s 2014, John still brings me great joy every day.
Just a few weeks ago we were having lunch, trying to decide what we should do to celebrate our anniversary.
He said, “I could buy you some jewelry.”
I said, “I could buy you a watch.”
We were both silent for several moments.
Then John said, “Let’s make a goal to have 20 adventures this year.”
“That’s it!”
So our goal in 2014 is to have 20 adventures. We already have several planned: surfing in Hawaii, hiking in Slovenia, a trail race in the Dolomites. I can’t wait to plan the rest of our adventures, and the rest of our lives together. I love you Johnnie!
Boston, 1994: This was our first real trip together as a couple. We went to Boston for a friend’s wedding.
Phoenix, 1995: This was a wonderful New Year’s Eve Party, 1995.
Balitmore, 1996: Here we are at another wedding–John has a great big group of friends from college who all seemed to get married in 1996! I have no idea why my hair looks so red.
Rock Springs, 1997: Here’s a picture from a trip John and I took to Prescott, with a stop in Rock Springs.
Havasupai Falls, 1998: One of our favorite Arizona hikes!
Venezuela, 1999: We had a magical trip to Venezuela. We spent some time here in the Andes in a college town called Merida, and we also flew out to Los Roqus, a gorgeous archipelago in the Caribbean.
China, 2000: Kirk and Corinne invited us to go to China. Corinne’s cousin showed us all the sights!
Belize, 2001: We did some great cave exploring inland then headed out to Ambergris Caye for snorkeling.
Scotland, 2002: Visiting our friends Tom & Allyson, and Eric Chilton was with us too. We rented a crofter’s house on the Isle of Skye. We also hopped over to Ireland for a few days.
Costa Rica, 2003: This was a relaxing trip. We spent most of it by the beach.
Honduras, 2004: Another beachy trip! We spent most of our time snorkeling on the island of Roatan.
Argentina, 2005: After this trip, we spent about 2 years trying to figure out how we could move to Buenos Aires. Best. City. Ever.
St. Lucia, 2006: Here we are hiking the volcanic peaks of St. Lucia. This was a very relaxing and luxurious trip. We stayed at La Jalousie, which John could not pronounce so he called it the J. Lo.
Thailand, 2007: We also went to Korea, again to see John’s nephew Ryan. Then we flew to Thailand where I ate all the curry.
Turks and Caicos, 2008: We rented this unbelievable condo on the beach and had breakfast on the balcony every day. We also had a sundowner on the beach every evening.
France, 2009: Once again, Kirk called and said “Wanna go to . . . ” This time it was France. We flew in to Barcelona, drove up the coast, stayed with Kirk & Corinne and their 2 kids for a week, then drove down to Mont Ventoux to watch Lance Armstrong race his last Tour de France.
Peru, 2010: Machu Picchu. Christmas Day. Celebrating my 40th birthday=awesome!
Portugal, 2011: What a fun trip! Flew in to Lisbon. Then flew out to Madiera and ran a 20K trail race. Then flew back and drove to Porto and did a Half Marathon.
Tanzania, 2012: You guessed it. Summiting Kilimanjaro on Larry’s 59th birthday.
Denmark, 2013: Kathryn sent me a note and said, “Ole is having a 50th Birthday party in Denmark. Want to come?” I said, “Yes.” It was so much fun! Here we are on the beach with their twins Emma and Esben (and the castle we all made). Then John and I hopped over to Stockholm, where John ran a 50K!