Twenty Years

A lot can happen in 20 years. Life events pass by quickly and, before you know it, decades have passed. So many things change. And so many more stay the same.

Twenty years ago last March, I was a college student who was thrilled to be on his way to Russia as part of a university study abroad exchange. Twenty years ago last March, I found myself a stranger in a strange land. It was 1994, and I was one of the first foreigners allowed inside the closed city of Nizhniy Novgorod. On my first day in the city, I made eye contact with Nataliya.

Twenty years ago in April, we went on our first date. We dined at a nice restaurant (Dom Aktora), had a few drinks at the Admiral Cafe, and sat together on the side of a hill as we overlooked the Volga River.

Twenty years ago this week, Nataliya and I were married.

Rather than renew our vows, we renewed our first date. We dined at a nice restaurant (Sotto Sopra), had drinks at Tio Pepe's, and sat together on the side of Federal Hill as we overlooked Baltimore's Inner Harbor.

A lot can happen in 20 years. Life events pass by quickly and, before you know it, decades have passed. So many things change. And so many more stay the same.

Here's to the next 20 years going by much more slowly, but being every bit as rewarding.