We have a big dog now…a Great Pyrenees….named Appa.

Appa chews everything.

We cleaned out a storage shed that we had some stuff in, and found a bunch of old slides and photographs that I’d had for a while….stuff from high school and college….and during the process of finishing the cleaning, Appa got hold of them and chewed them all up.

This photo is one that I saved from the trash can.

Photos are easy to lose.

Memories…..not easy to lose.

I’m thankful for that.

In the picture, I’m standing behind Mel Brooks at a Diamond Brand Christmas party.

I’d moved back to North Carolina to work at Diamond Brand Camping Center….and had been there for a couple of weeks.

(I’m kidding about “Mel Brooks”. The man is the owner of the company….Arnold….and I’m photobombing him….)

The reason this picture is important to me is this is where I met Jenny for the first time.

She was at the party with a co-worker….and I spent the evening trying to talk to her without usurping my friend’s attentions.

I was snaking in the most subtle way.

I remember that after the party, I was sitting at the lunch table with some of my friends at work, and I mentioned that I thought that it was weird meeting her, that it felt like “I’d met my wife or something”.

So….that’s what this picture is all about….the first time that I met Jenny.

I had another picture in the bunch that got thrown away that actually showed her off to the side….but that one is gone now….in some landfill somewhere.

That’s why memories are so important.

I didn’t see Jenny again for three years after that party, but when I did I asked her out and….the rest is …history.

Today is our 23rd wedding anniversary.

That’s a big deal….4 children….a lot of living under our belts….always together.

Thank goodness I went to that party.

Thank goodness that Appa’s teeth missed this one picture.

It’s fun to have it and remember.