Grow Old With Me

Grow Old With Me.

This is the song that we danced to for the first time as husband and wife thirteen years ago on our Wedding Day.

We were young and we had our whole life ahead of us. We could see so many happy times together. We planned for those...

We've had some tough times too along the way. We didn't plan for those. Were we young and naive? Were we so happy to finally begin our lives together that we couldn't imagine those times? Did we just passively acknowledge them and assume they would be small hurdles? Perhaps a little of all three.

Weddings still make me cry. A mixed bag of tears really. Mostly, when I attend weddings, I remember when I too was the bride, just like it was yesterday. On my Wedding Day I remember feeling so happy and looking forward with excitement to begin this journey of marriage with a person that I knew was a good fit for my soul. I remember feeling full of hope of so many good things to come. They did for sure. Too many to count. I also remember being filled with certainty that we could face anything together that life had to throw at us. We were strong individually and even stronger together... Maybe I was too confident. Standing at the altar that day, I surely didn't think we would live to tell about our child that we loved and had to let go. Grieving at times can be a stress on a marriage, but it has also been a glue like none other.

Today, we are still standing together, still in love, still devoted to each other and the life that we began so many years ago. This year is different though. This year, we stand more maturely, refined by God and the life experiences that we have been through. We surely don't look much like that couple thirteen years ago. Today we have a few more gray hairs and a few more wrinkles, but more of what counts on the inside, much more wisdom and bigger hearts for sure! Today we stand ready to face whatever life brings to each and every day and with much greater love and appreciation. Life is so very fragile and it can change in an instant. We stand today with gratefulness for God's blessings in our lives and a desire to just make the most of each day and the life that has been given to us. Our lives, our family, our marriage, and our love for one another all have such greater meaning. So today we celebrate a marriage still standing through such adversity, the every day frustrations and the big roadblocks too.

No flowers or fancy dinner reservations were needed. We have just returned from being out of town and there was lots of unpacking to do and an enormous pile of laundry. No worries. We didn't need to go to extraordinary measures to fluff up the day because in every way that counts, our lives are extraordinary. An anniversary is a special day don't get me wrong. For us however, it is the every day, ordinary moments that are what really matter. I am content with my extraordinary everyday moments and those are all the gifts that I need, today and tomorrow too. It will be nice to go out for dinner sometime in the near future and to enjoy a special evening together. We will make the time to celebrate our love, but after all, we are adults and can delay our plans to a time when it works out best for everyone's schedule. In doing so, we will be able to truly enjoy the time together.

Here's hoping that our future is bright and filled with more sunshine than our hearts can hold. I am just grateful to have my husband along for the crazy ride of life, the highs, the lows, and everything in between. So today, and for each day that we have to come, we will face the setting sun with God as two people forever changed but still holding on to each other and to HIM.