That's So Pittsburgh: A Love as Strong as Steel

Ever the romantic, Dear Husband has tried to mark many of our anniversaries with a theme gift. The 1st wedding anniversary is supposed to be "paper," so he bought me a book (Eugene Peterson's The Message). For our 5th dating anniversary, he sent me five wooden roses that now live in a vase on his bureau with the three more he received while hospitalized for his first three rounds of chemotherapy.

Strong as Steel
(click for the original music video by British pop group Five Star, 1987)

This love is as strong as steel
Can't break it up or break it down
It's always gonna be around
This love is a love that's real
It's as deep as any ocean goes
It's gonna last, don't you know?
This love's strong as steel.

Even through the times when times were hard for us
Any rain we came through shining
Oh, I knew we'd make it all it takes is trust

A few days before our recent 11th wedding anniversary, it suddenly occurred to me that I should get DH a gift. I gave up an evening of studying to search the web for a suitable present made out of steel: cuff links, bottle openers, and dog tags just did not appeal to me and don't sound like him at all. Finally I stumbled upon Cut Maps, a company that cuts city maps out of shiny steel plates and frames them in modern, black frames. The finished pieces look like abstract art. I decided to buy one map of Baltimore, where we met, fell in love, and got married, as well as one map of Pittsburgh, the city where we will (hopefully) establish ourselves and live many years.

How appropriate to be celebrating our "steel" anniversary in the Steel City!
We had dinner at a restaurant called Eleven, naturally.

DH's card concludes, "...I'm glad we never let go." This was taped to the envelope:

Bill Watterson, Calvin and Hobbes, December 20, 1985