Hey, look, it’s my first “unboxing” post!
Haha just kidding. Sort of.
You see, it all goes back to August 24, 2002 — the day of our wedding. Andrew and I were in our youth. Well, he was, anyway. I was 24 years old and by Mennonite standards, quite the old maid already.
So, on this day 20 years ago, we were gifted many lovely, helpful items as we began our new life together. And, for some reason, we just really seemed like a couple in need of glassware. It was by far the most popular gift, and over the years I’ve felt grateful for the many boxes of glasses we’d been given on August 24, 2002, because I’m clumsy and have accidentally broken a lot of them. (This is also an excellent argument for why I should not inherit any important glassware from family members. You might think I’d take good care of it. I’d certainly want to. But in reality, I break everything. It’s unfortunate. So keep that important fragile glassware away from me!)
The other day, it occurred to me that our cupboard contained a diminishing number of glasses. In addition to being clumsy, I’m also forgetful. So it took me 20 years to realize we still had two unopened boxes of pristine, never-been-used glassware at the back of our top shelf, awaiting their day in the sun.
“Andrew!” I called. “Help help! I can’t reach!”
My tall husband appeared, and I explained, “I just remembered, we still have wedding gifts that we’ve never opened — and they’re hidden way back there!”
Andrew was amazed, amused, and told me this seems like a Mennonite thing, because Mennos won’t throw anything away if they think it may come in handy someday. (Which glasses obviously do.)
I’ll admit, it’s pretty funny that I saved these glasses for two full decades!
I considered filming an unboxing video. (Do you know about those? I don’t get it. I don’t know what’s so exciting about watching someone open a box that contains something they were expecting anyway.) But video is a pain so I just took a few unboxing pictures instead. Here you go.
This might also be a good time to mention that I’m so forgetful, I seem to have misplaced our wedding album. (Oh dear. I’ll find it yet!) I was going to include some pictures from our wedding day but the best I can do is take pictures of the ones displayed in our home. So here you go — this was Andrew and I, 20 years ago, today!
So, what do you think? Is it a Mennonite thing to save, save, save those wedding gifts forever and ever? Have you ever done it?