35th

That's the number that belongs in front of "Anniversary."

Today marks Terry's and my 35th wedding anniversary. We were introduced to one another by my former freshman roommate at Rutgers University back in 1970 when we were seniors at the then College of Agriculture and Environmental Science. She had been an Aggie all along, one of the few females then admitted to Rutgers (as opposed to Douglas), while I had drifted from Biological Science to Chemistry to Environmental Science (with some teaching classes my senior year). We were all on the committee formed to discuss the transition from CAES to Cook College when Bill Clark (now Dr. Bill Clark of Ames, Iowa), knowing we had quite a few things in common, introduced us. You might say it was love at first sight.

We all graduated in the spring of '71. Clark went west to get his Master's and finally Doctorate degrees in Wildlife Biology. Terry stayed at CAES to get her Master's in Environmental Science. I went to Montclair to get a Teaching Certificate. Terry and I got engaged and then married on August 19, 1972.

It's been a hell of a ride since then. We still have many things in common such as our reading habits and love for travel and nature, but have also developed our own interests (mine in the outdoors hunting and fishing, hers in the area of needlecraft as a member and officer in the Smocking Arts Guild of America and Embroiders' Guild of America).

We have produced two great, if slightly weird, children: Jessica, now 27, and Rick who is 24, who share our reading habit and love for road trips and the outdoors. Jess is a talented musician with a degree in Music Education, loves computers and works in the Apple Store. She has also developed remarkable skills in knitting, sewing and other hand crafts that parallel her mother's talents. Rick is...well, unique: Eagle Scout, Marine Reservist who has seen time in Iraq, chef, interested in nearly everything. Last Mother's Day he called from the trail as he hiked in the Grand Tetons with a friend from the University of Idaho. Three days later he was ringing our doorbell at the Aerie after having dropped many of his belongings in Baltimore. He never mentioned this in his phone call. Currently he is in Guyana with WorldTeach.

Seldom dull, our life together has been fantastic so far and promises to continue to be so for many years to come.