Judith Viorst

I had never heard of Judith Viorst until I was in Denver in February, 2000. The people with whom we were staying had a copy of her "How did I get to be 40 & other atrocities" and when I visited Tattered Cover later that same week, I bought myself a copy.

I may not be 40 quite yet, but I've been married almost 12 years now. I love this poem.

Among Other Thoughts on our Wedding Anniversary

Over the years
When the sink overflowed
Or the car ran out of gas
Or the lady who comes every Tuesday to clean didn't come
Or I felt pudgy
Or misunderstood
Or inferior to Marilyn Kaufman who is not only a pediatric surgeon but also a very fine person as well as beautiful
Or I fell in the creek and got soaked on our first family camping trip
Or mosquitoes ate me alive on our first camping trip
Or I bruised my entire left side on our first family camping trip
Or I walked through a patch of what later turned out to be plenty of poison ivy
on what later turned out to be our last camping trip
Or my sweater shrank in the wash
Or I stepped on my glasses
Or the keys that I swear on my children's head I put on the top of the dresser weren't there
Or I felt depressed
Or unfulfilled
Or inferior to Ellen Jane Garver who not only teaches constitutional law but is also a wit plus sexually unsatiable
Or they lost our luggage
Or our reservations
Or two of the engines
Or the rinse that was going to give my hair some subtle copper highlights turned it purple
Or my mother-in-law got upset at something I said
Or my stomach got upset at something I ate
Or I backed into a truck that I swear when I looked in my rear view mirror wasn't parked there
Or I suffered from some other blow of fate,
It's always been nice to have my husband by my side so I could
Blame him.