I wish I could tell you I knew what I was doing 10 years ago today, but I really didn't.
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I got married at 11-ish am. On a Friday. At a courthouse. It was a beautiful fall day in Clearwater. We'd only decided that Tuesday to push up our wedding date, oh, one year and 4 months. We'd been officially engaged only about 5 weeks. We'd known each other less than 365 days. We were 23 years old. And yet.....
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God has blessed us these ten years - so abundantly, it's hard to put into words. We have grown up (we still are growing up) together, we've spent our adulthood growing with each other, encouraging each other. We have expended an immense amount of energy on ridiculous arguments. We have expended even more energy making up. And more than that, we have put the most energy into learning to communicate effectively, compromising, learning the nuances required to read the other. We have built an incredible partnership, an empire of love, if you will.
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Our lives haven't been sugar-coated, we've had plenty of downs. But our commitment to each other and our family and our faith has been enough to get us through the times when we were near the breaking point. Our quest for children has been liberally peppered by loss and heartache, but rewarded with two incredible daughters, true blessings. We have dealt with familial disappointment, interstate moves, job changes, financial hell, medical issues, deaths of loved ones... All things that can strain a marriage on their own. Many years, these cards have been dealt to us one after another. And yet? We are happy.
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We have had untold joy. He still makes me weak in the knees, just with a look or a gentle kiss. His devotion to me and our children are enough to make me swoon. He works hard, not only to be successful in his career, but to provide for us in every way - as the head of our family, as an example in the community, as a model of good faith. When we have the rare occasion to spend time without the girls, we have the best time (I'm so looking forward to NYC for two days!!!) - reminded what drew us to each other in the beginning. The sweet give and take - the gentle way we loved one another even from the start. Thoughtful gestures, caring words. Sometimes we've let those things go unsaid in our day-to-day, the sweetness fading from time to time. But when we realize it, it is so wonderful to get back to our roots.
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I wouldn't want to be traveling this road with anyone else. I wouldn't want to have a family with anyone else, or move all over the east coast with anyone else. I didn't know what I was doing 10 years ago, but I am glad our impulsivity threw us in this direction.
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I love you, Husband. I pray we are blessed with as many years together as Nanny and Poppop (65 so far!!!). I hope you can put up with me for that long.
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Happy Anniversary.
