01 June 2020

Trente-sept ans

Thirty-seven years ago today, in 1983, Walt and I moved in together. We were both living in Arlington, Virginia, in the suburbs of Washington DC, having just moved there from Paris in the summer of 1982. Our first apartment together was on Capitol Hill, just 800 meters from the U.S. Capitol building. I had started working nearby with CHM in January 1983. By 1984, Walt was working in the offices of a U.S. member of congress in the same neighborhood.




Walt and I at Muir Woods sometime in the late 1980s, when we were young

In 1986, Walt and I decided to move to California. He wanted to continue his studies out there. I was ready to leave DC but I didn't know what I'd do next. We found an apartment in San Francisco, near SF City College on the south side of the city, where Walt was enrolled as a student. Less than a year later, Walt transferred to the University of California at Berkeley. We moved into downtown SF, where I was working, in 1987.

Walt graduates from Berkeley with a masters degree

CHM was a frequent visitor to California back then. His long-time companion Frank lived in the desert in southern California, not far from Palm Springs and the Mexican border. CHM continued working in DC until 1997 or so, when he bought a house in the desert. We started driving down there (it was 9 or 10 hours on the road each way) to see him and that part of the state. Then Walt and I decided to move to France and did so on our 20th anniversary together, in 2003.

Walt and I in the desert, photo by CHM





We ended up living in the San Francisco area for about 17½ years. Walt finished his studies at Berkeley in early 1992, with a bachelor's degree in architecture and two masters degrees. By then, I had found a job with a software company in Silicon Valley, more than 40 miles south of SF. Walt found a job down there too, and in April 1992 we relocated ourselves again. I was employed as an editor and manager at Apple computer from 1992 to 1998.








Walt on a camping trip in the Sierra Nevada mountains in California

We moved back to SF in 1995, when we found a house we could afford to buy in the first SF neighborhood we had lived in. During all those years, until 2003, we explored California. One way we did that was to go on camping trips in the state's many big parks, both the coast and up in the Sierra Nevada mountains. Our friend Sue, who has visited us three or four times here in France, lived in the foothills of the mountains near Sacramento — still does — and she loved the camping trips too.

Us camping, photo by Sue
It's amazing to realize that we will soon have lived in Saint-Aignan for just as long as we lived in California. But here we are. I wish Sue and CHM could come to France this summer, as they each had planned to do. But for circumstances...




Walt took this photo of me and CHM in the Luxembourg Gardens in Paris in 1992


19 comments:

  1. Great photos to commemorate 37 years living together!
    I realize that I missed wishing you happy wedding anniversary this May!

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    1. Don't worry about that, J. — 37 years together, and 17 of those in France.

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  2. Belle journée à vous deux... qu'elle soit suivie de beaucoup d'autres ! Outre ce que vos blogs racontent, votre vie telle que nous pouvons l'imaginer fait plaisir à voir... soyez heureux longtemps... toujours.
    Amicalement.

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    1. Merci, Christiane. Nous avons eu beaucoup de chance et beaucoup de bonheur au cours des années. Nous nous sommes rencontrés et nous avons fait connaissance il y a presque 40 ans à Paris, et à partir de 1988, époque où nous étions ré-installés aux USA, nous sommes venus passer nos vacances en France tous les ans, jusqu'en 2003, l'année de notre grand déménagement. Nous somme heureux ici.

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  3. Great photos and call it for what it is, true love.

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  4. Thirty seven years and counting... Cingrats!

    If I'm not mistaken, it's in the Painted Canyon, near Mecca, that I took this photo of you two.

    In early January 1992, the roud trip fare from Washington, DC, was about $400, the cheapest it has ever been. So, I decided to take a week's vacation and go meet my good friends, Ken and Walt, in Paris. I had made a reservation in the same hotel they were, l'Hôtel de l'Avenir.

    The "thing" I am holding in my right hand was my Sony movie camera. I still have the tapes, but can't read them!

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    1. Yes, our hotel was near the west gate of the Luxembourg Gardens, at the corner of the rue de Fleurus and the rue Madame. That was a very good place to stay in Paris in those days.

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  5. Do I recognize Collette near Walt in the fifth photo?

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    1. I don't think so, CHM. I think the photo in question was taken in the summer of 1991. We didn't get Collette until the summer of 1992. The splash of orange that might look like Collette's tail is the camp fire. I just asked Walt why we would have been up there at Tuolome Meadows with my VW rather than his Jeep. It's because he didn't buy the Jeep until 1992 or '93, after we moved to Sunnyvale.

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  6. Congratulations to you both!

    I love these trips down memory lane, thank you.

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  7. Happy Anniversary to you and Walt! Wonderful photos

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  8. Many congratulations, Ken and Walt - and more importantly may you have many more years of happiness together!
    Roderick PS But how did you two meet? Was it love at first sight?

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  9. 37 congratulations! Champagne for everyone. 50 is around the corner, that's golden I believe. The camping photos are very cool and wishing I was there now, instead of post lock down curfew....Ha! This too shall pass. That 40 mile commute must have been a challenge, I've been in that traffic!

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  10. Great fun for you to share your happy photos with your internet followers! I love the smell of a campfire and those beautiful nights to view the starry sky! Congratulations on finding your soulmate!

    Mary in Oregon

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  11. Congratulations guys! And indeed: lovely pictures! Greetings from Perth, Jan & Dean.

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  12. Congratulations! An impressive milestone. And those camping pictures are so nice.
    I am rooting for chm to get better fast. Loved the idea of "this French Revolution contraption erected and used in Lafayette Square!" For anyone mechanically inclined, I understand the plans are available on-line and that the materials cost about $1200. Could be a good investment.

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  13. Happy Anniversary! I love seeing those camping photos and CHM with a beard. I got a big chuckle about the French Revolution contraption.

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