The term anniversary can be widely used. For couples, it can be a reminder of your first date, the first time you exchanged your I love you, your engagement day or your wedding day. You can also celebrate a friendship anniversary, the day you move into the flat with your roommate or your first day at work.

Celebrations are not too orthodox. Every circumstance should be a reason to bring people together and create lifetime souvenirs. 

Sight

Our generation likes being immortalized by digital cameras. Unfortunately, a lot of people forget the pictures they have on their computers. Go and take a look at those shots of you moving into your new place, of your wedding day or of your first date. Print them, create paper albums or frame them. It is not about being self-centered but about remembering that at some point you had an intimate moment with somebody special. Watch these souvenirs with your partner.  For a job anniversary, you might opt for PowerPoint Presentations whilst offering your co-workers drinks and a home-made cake.

Tip for husbands: take a picture of your wife’s wedding bouquet and show it to your florist. Offer your wife the replicate on your wedding anniversary. Buy a special vase to keep the dried-bouquet forever. You can thank me later.

Tip for wives: take your wedding dress out of the depths of your closet. It does not matter if you do not have the same make-up or jewelry. The most important is to feel the newlywed atmosphere again.

Hearing

I remember one day when I was sad, my husband put on our wedding song, kneeled, proposed again and invited me to dance in the middle of our living-room.

Emotions are often linked to a song. At a moment your heart was discovering something totally new and right on that same second a music was playing in the background. You must know what I am talking about. When I listen to Edith Piaf, I think of my Grand-Mother who passed away years ago. Abba reminds me of vacations with my parents and sister. Bach was my faithful companion during my writing nights.  

Hit the play button and bring the ambiance back. A lot of people underestimate the beautiful power music can have on their lives.

Taste 

Normally, most first dates include a restaurant or a drink. If you are sharing your flat with a mate, there are high chances that you two have cooked together at some point. Where is your old cookbook?

Smell 

The smell alone can bring a souvenir back in your mind that you cannot control. The cartoon Ratatouille plays exactly on this particularity. The smell brings you back to your childhood, to a moment, to a place you have been to or it reminds you of the first perfume you were offered. Just close your eyes and enjoy the tender souvenir.

Be creative. Cook something that will immediately remind you of that special day you are celebrating, offer the same first perfume you gave her or him, or give a special flower.

Touch

Remember the shellfish you bought during your honeymoon, or the little souvenir from your last trip to Paris? You delicately put these objects somewhere. Now take them in your hand and contemplate them. Go find your wedding favors and smile. Take the frame on your piano and watch the details carefully. These objects had their importance in your life one day, bring them back to life every year.

Happy Anniversary

Any souvenir we have must be linked to at least one of our senses. If possible, why not go back to the place where you first met, or walk by these streets you took every day to go to high school with your best friend? We have to revivify our senses and remember the crucial roles these details had on that d-day – it feels so good.