New Year's Mystery

December 31st, 1939. Havana, Cuba.

That was the date Rodolfo Verdés made Luz Perez-Puelles his bride.

I love this picture of my parents.  It was probably taken a few years after their wedding and of course, it was totally posed, but seriously, he always held her in such high esteem.  And she thought he looked just like Errol Flynn. (isn't that cute?)

They were married for sixty years. Sixty years!

And he never forgot an anniversary.  My dad was clever that way. 

"Let's get married on New Year's Eve!  It will be a great excuse to have a party and I'll never forget our anniversary!"

And so it was.

The thing is that everyone else remembered their wedding anniversary too.  Old friends they hadn't seen in years would always remember to call and congratulate them on December the 31st.  I loved that.  It was such a quirky wedding date. 

And so it is today.  The first thing I think of on New Year's Eve is to call my mom, and comment on how it would have been 68 years today.  My dad always sent her yellow roses, which was quite a trick on New Years in Southern California because all the flowers were all in Pasadena on floats for the parade.

My mom has a platinum band she wears now on a chain around her neck.  It has a date on it and of course, I assumed it would be their wedding date, but it's not.  Ooh, cryptic.  I love that she has kept the secret of the inscription on her wedding ring.  She said she wrote it down for me, but I'm liking the idea of my dad being a sort of international man of mystery. =D  I. LOVE. THAT.  Is it the date they met? Is it their first date? Is that the day he proposed?  Was it a Monday?  She has promised the ring to me with the solution to the cryptic date puzzle.  So cool.

My life is richer because my parents went the distance. Or maybe it was just the cool wedding date that kept them together.  I don't know. 

But I do know that I'll never forget their anniversary either. . .

      . . . or that my dad looked strikingly like a young Errol Flynn.  =D

I wish you all a very happy and prosperous New Year full of unsolvable romantic mysteries and the promise of much adventure!