Anniversary

So, my smoking hot husband and I will be married for 16 years on August 23rd. Now, I know that when I brag about that to the long-timers; the ones who have been at it for like, 30, 40, 50 years, they kind of smirk at me with that knowing look........ like I have no idea what I'm even talking about and that 16 years is like a blink of the eye compared to the amount of time they've spent lolling around in wedded bliss. But for Pete's sake; nowadays 16 years is like, a monumental amount of time considering the divorce rate. I've also never spent this amount of time with the same person voluntarily, day after day, week after week, month after month. Seriously. 

 We had NO IDEA what we were getting into when we first got engaged. I was 20, he was 23. He had just been hired as youth pastor, and I was, well, just out of diapers. He didn't know that I turned into a sort of Gollum if he tried to eat my potato chips(like I needed them), or that I hogged the blankets with a superhuman strength that would frighten your pants off, or that I really didn't know how to cook; more just burn things nicely. I didn't know he loved to play practical jokes(NOT funny buddy!), LOVED action movies with a passion(barf), and would watch so much hockey that his retinas should have shrivelled up by now. 

 

I also didn't know how lovely it would feel to be in a room full of strangers, and without looking, know that he was there somewhere in that room and that he had my back. Or how strong his shoulders would feel as I faced loss, depression, loneliness, and contractions that would make you want to poke your eyeballs out. I never knew that there is such thing as long, comfortable silences with someone, or that you can actually look someone in the eyes and know what they are thinking just with a glance. I didn't know that saying yes, when we want to say no, would grow us from the inside out, and make us more beautiful people. I also didn't realize that when it feels like there doesn't seem to be a hopeful tomorrow, all I have to do is turn away from the hopelessness, look in the eyes of Jesus, and see a million more tomorrows. True story.

 

I love you husband. You are my favourite; even when you won't let me hold the remote.