Ten Years

Today is my 10th wedding anniversary.

Milestone.

Today I also learned that Prop 8 was overturned as unconstitutional.

Marriage is a civil right, according to the mayor of Los Angeles.

I can not believe I have been married for ten years, my previous status as  Mrs. didn't last more than a year.  I was young, bold, and just got out of a bad situation before I was in it too long.  I did end up with kids.

It is funny, I sat down one day and thought about what has kept us married for ten years.  Certainly there were circumstances and situations that would have made me throw in the towel and move on.  Marriage is not for the faint of heart, there are peaks and valleys.

We certainly experienced our's.

I was married before and brought children into the marriage.  He didn't bring children.  That affected us, then we immediately had the girls.

The wild antics of teenage sons, financial loss from two professional jobs gone inside of two months, the addition of more children, the stress of family death, the uncertainty of a child with a major illness, status changes from employed to not...for years, moving, things that happened in this decade since.

We are comfortable now.  The youngest three are not babies anymore, the baby will be in first grade in a couple weeks.  There is familiarity with our routine and ways, the things that come from being with someone for fourteen years - he counts our tenth anniversary as back in 2007.

I wasn't sure how I would feel this morning when I woke up.  He gently hugged me and kissed my check, gave a dimpled smile and said to be ready for a dinner surprise, we have reservations at 7:30pm.

Ten years, that is a lifetime.  We traveled, we moved, we did a lot of firsts, including buying what was a first house for each of us.  We finished graduate degrees (actually a few months before we were married).  We ministered together.  Too many family gatherings to count.  Dinners out, cards exchanged, and more jewelry than I ever had in my life.

Today we celebrate, honor, and reflect.  August 5, 2000 changed both our lives.