Have You Seen My Roots?: Happy Anniversary (Again)

Saturday, September 17, 2011

Happy Anniversary (Again)

Dana Cignarella, Rick and Cherie Cayemberg and Jeff Ryan Sr

My husband and I actually have 2 anniversaries. We had a civil wedding first and then did the proper church wedding later (which I blogged about a few months ago). Why the two weddings? An interesting story...

My husband and I were both in the Army and stationed in Hawaii. We knew that we were going to get married eventually and I was playing the good girlfriend and try not to ask every 5 minutes when it would happen. In September 1999 my husband and I took a trip to Maui. At his unit's last Christmas party he had won a trip for two so we decided that we'd go. Maui was gorgeous (naturally!), but our hotel room was not. No biggie. As my now husband said, "We'll only be sleeping there." So we spent the majority of our days there out and about, which is really what needed to be done anyway!

The view from the top of Haleakala

We decided to take a bike ride down the Haleakala volcano and we opted to go with a company that let you do it yourself rather than in a group. We wanted to take our time and stop when we wanted to. It was almost entirely downhill, so it wasn't like it was incredibly difficult. The view from the crater of the volcano was very cool. We were above the clouds. What an interesting perspective. Just like being in a plane, but it's open-air. A bit odd to say the least. And cold. Cold is a word I would use too. Not freezing cold, although that could happen too, but chilly cold. You had to layer your clothes to do this bike ride. At the top with a light jacket (preferably waterproof) and you could peel off layers on the way down.

We had decided that we'd stop and picnic on the way down and we did. Rick saw a farm that over-looked the lower "saddle" portion of Maui complete with ocean on both sides of the "saddle." We parked our bikes and climbed over the fence to the farm and sat down. I know...we were bad, sneaking onto someone farm, but that wasn't how we saw it. We just wanted the view. I don't remember what we ate. It was eclipsed by my husband taking a twist tie (like the ones on a loaf of bread) and fashioning it into an engagement ring and asking if I would marry him.

Rick sitting where he asked me to marry him

I'm sure some women would have taken a look at that and thought only of diamonds. Not me. I immediately said yes. I knew this was the man I wanted to spend forever with...garbage bag tie ring or diamond. He slipped it on my finger and gave me a kiss. Then he took the real diamond ring out of his pocket and put that on my finger! And he thinks he's not romantic!

I almost ruined the surprise and busted him that morning before we set off on our bike ride. He was wondering around wearing his Umbro shorts. The only pocket they have is one on the back. I noticed a big lump on his butt and reached out with a "What's in your pocket?" I really was dim. I never thought that an engagement ring was coming that day. He swatted my hand away and I still didn't figure it out. I suppose he moved the ring to a pocket in the backpack we took, which was probably a good thing. Could you imagine losing the ring on a 20 mile (ish) bike ride?

It was only a couple weeks later that we decided to get married. We'd been living together since I moved out to Hawaii about 4 months earlier and he was getting ready to go to a 2 month long military school. He thought it would be best to finalize the deal before he left. Now it was a rush. We got the marriage license and found someone to perform the ceremony. Where did we get married? On a beach at sunset of course! Diamond Head Beach Park (also known as Leahi Beach Park) to be exact. It was a small wedding, and it was the day before he was leaving for school! We had our 2 witnesses and that was that. My uncle Jeff was one of the two witnesses. The other was a friend stationed out there. I would have preferred to have had my Uncle Jeff and Aunt Cathy as witnesses, but because our wedding was so last minute, my aunt had to be back on the mainland that weekend for work.

Rick's family sometimes wondered if he was ever going to get married, so in true Rick form, he called them up the night before the wedding with a, "Hey, at whatever o'clock tomorrow (yes I don't remember the time we got married!) have a beer for me!" The response was always, "Why?" and the answer, "Because I'll be getting married." That's my hubby!

Me being all girlie and crying

It was beautiful (although the pictures aren't the best) and I did cry. My uncle took us out to dinner afterward to celebrate at a wonderful restaurant called David Paul's and the food was the best I had eaten! It was such a wonderful end to the day and I could never thank my uncle (and aunt) enough for that dinner. We even went back there on our 1st anniversary! The staff came out and presented us with the cork from the wine we drank and a card signed by the entire staff congratulating us on our special day.

I get asked which anniversary we celebrate. Our civil wedding or our church wedding. My answer? Obviously the church wedding meant something very special to me or we wouldn't have had one, but when someone asks me how long we've been married I answer based on the civil wedding. Wouldn't you?