Anniversaries are pretty important to Americans. Most people know the birthdays and wedding anniversaries of their closest family members (some husbands may be excluded from that statement!). Many other people can name several other important dates in their past. First date with their future spouse (April 1, 1996), anniversary of their proposal (December 25, 1996), first day at their job (September 6, 1999 - First job out of college, May 6, 2002 - started at WTGN in Lima, OH, September 2, 2005 - began serving in Mali). OK, maybe it's just me who is obsessed with numbers but I do believe Americans are more occupied with such things than many other people. In Mali, for example, most people older than me don't know their birthdays or even their birth years! Birthdays aren't really celebrated and wedding anniversaries pass without mention.
However, we have some friends who are breaking that mold. Pastor Christophe and his wife Jeanne recently celebrated their 20th wedding anniversary. They invited us over to their house for dinner last week to celebrate with them and we had a wonderful time. They actually weren't at their house when we arrived because there was a funeral (something that demands the utmost urgency in this culture) but after a couple of hours they made it back and we enjoyed a nice meal and wonderful conversation together. Christophe and Jeanne have twin boys who are about 12-14 years old so they have already been where we are. We also celebrated the first birthday of their youngest child, Alec.
Oh, and what's on the mind of Malians that they want to talk about? The US election! At least we don't have to deal with recorded phone calls and non-stop TV commercials!
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