Couple Reenacts Their First Date Every Anniversary Since Meeting On Myspace 16 Years Ago
Their adorable yearly tradition turned into a family affair.
Hiraman | CanvaPro Successful marriages take hard work. That's why anniversaries should always be a celebration, even if they aren't grand affairs.
After getting married, one couple decided to reenact their first date on every anniversary, and 16 years later, it became a sentimental family affair.
They shared their heartwarming tradition in a Facebook post, along with a photo for each year they have been together. Their commitment and sentimental celebration inspired followers to share their own anniversary traditions.
A married couple always celebrates their anniversary by reenacting their first date at Chili's.
“Every year, for the last 16 years, my wife and I have done a reenactment of our first date,” the husband wrote in a post on the Facebook group The Way We Met. “We originally met on MySpace… We played the pen pal game for a while until finally, I gathered up the nerve to ask her to lunch.”
Even after four children, and years of navigating life together, the husband's sentiment was sincere — they’ve never taken their love for granted.
From the first time they met face to face to wedding anniversaries and side smiles during family holidays — they’re grateful for all of it. “We met at a Chili’s close to where she was living. We ended up eating and talking for four hours and the rest, as they say, is history.”
After meeting on Myspace over 16 years ago, this couple has continued to intentionally channel their first date excitement on anniversaries.
“Now every year, on the anniversary of our first date, I drop her off at the front of the same restaurant and she goes inside to get us a table,” the husband wrote, “ just like she did the night we met.”
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Always trying to score the same table, the couple returns to the restaurant in their same first-date clothes, now reasonably outdated, on every anniversary.
“The only difference over the years,” he noted, “has been our growing family in tow. Now we have four children, and what was once just a table for two is now a table for six."
Prioritizing intentional space for your marriage, whether to reminisce or relax, is essential for healthy long-term relationships.
Expert marriage counselors agree that healthy marriages thrive on much more than just commitment. After you sign the certificate and walk down the aisle, what keeps two partners connected? What keeps their love strong and supportive?
For many long-term couples, it’s a continuous reminder of why you got married in the first place. For this couple, that means returning to their first date restaurant, reminiscing about their first conversations, and reliving the excitement and nerves of that commitment with their new family.
“There’s hope. It’s really easy to think that the romance is done after you get married,” wife, mom, and creator Hannah Cases shared.
"If you’re willing to put in the work and bring back elements of who you were from the beginning, it’s possible to reignite… It’s working for us.”
After making a pledge to intentionally commit to each other, both physically and emotionally, for a month, Cases said her relationship with her husband has completely changed. They were supportive and loving beforehand, but the chaos of parenting and work shadowed their true intimacy and all the reasons they made the choice to pursue marriage.
Sometimes, all it takes is one conversation, date, or interaction to reignite the passion and excitement in a marriage.
Sometimes, it’s simply the reminder of the first night you met at Chili's that gives you the reassurance you need to reconnect.
Zayda Slabbekoorn is a News & Entertainment Writer at YourTango who focuses on health & wellness, social policy, and human interest stories