I'm so excited!

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Milestones

Hello readers! Christine Johnson here to talk about the milestones in our lives. At my house, the flowers are blooming and the birds chirping. It’s May, and in this part of the world, it’s prime time for engagements, weddings and graduations.  Many people are celebrating a milestone of some type.

Later this summer, my husband and I will celebrate our 25^th anniversary.  Ten years ago, a retired pastor surprised us with the trophy in the picture. He said it was important to celebrate our 15 years together in the same way that an athlete celebrates a victory in a sporting event. So he came up with the idea of an anniversary trophy and gave them to couples who’d reached an important anniversary. Needless to say, we were deeply touched.

I write stories set in the early 1920s and wondered about milestone celebrations in that time. According to Emily Post’s 1922 book on etiquette, like today the first anniversary was marked with gifts of paper. The fifth was wood, and the tenth tin, but none of these invited serious gifts. Instead the gift-giver usually gave something symbolic or even humorous until the couple reached their crystal anniversary at 15 years.

My upcoming November book is set in 1922 and marks a different kind of milestone. In that month ninety years ago, archaeologist Howard Carter discovered the entrance to King Tutankhamun’s tomb.  News of the discovery swept through the world press.  Before long, even fashion was influenced by the riches found in that tomb.  People became obsessed with treasure hunting, and my heroine, Anna Simmons, is no different.  She dreams of finding a hidden treasure to pull her family from financial trouble, but tiny Pearlman couldn't possibly hide a lost fortune, could it?

So what milestones will you be celebrating in the coming months?  Any graduations, new jobs, weddings, career milestones, anniversaries, birthdays or anything else coming up?