And, no, Sgt. Pepper had absolutely nothing to do with today’s post. I just thought it was a cool title for what I am writing.

You see, it was 20 years ago today – at 11:30 a.m. – that Rhonda and I said, “I do” at a little old Catholic chapel in Bowie, Maryland.

Sometimes, I feel so sorry for her. Back on that day, did she know when we took our vows that she was going to one day be a workshop widow?  A blog widow? A woodworking show or woodworking store widow?

Did she know she was going to be a sounding board for woodworking designs? A trusted adviser, expected to know the benefits of a dual-base router vs. a pair of dedicated fixed and plunge base routers? A progress evaluator as I would hold up semi-complete sub assemblies of projects and ask for her unabashed enthusiasm?

Did she know that one day she was going to be angry at me for tracking sawdust into the house?  That she would be yelling at me to stop running the power tools after 10 p.m. so she could get some sleep on a work night? That she was going to be holding ice on a kickback injury or gauze on a nasty cut I suffered in the shop?

Did she know that she was going to hold back some snickers while I showed her my first few pathetic projects? That I was going to present those projects to her family as holiday presents and she was going to hope that they liked them? That she would be biting her fingernails in anxiety as she wondered if the finish would cure in time for them to be given as presents?

Did she know that her future sons were going to get snagged and sent out into the shop to help with the grunt work? That she was going to be out in the shop one day herself?

I bet she didn’t, but I am also willing to bet that even with all of the struggles, miscommunications and successes, that she wouldn’t trade the experience for anything.

Rhonda, thank you for being my supporter, my cheerleader and my biggest fan for the past 13 years as a woodworker. And, happy anniversary to you!