lucky 13 and "it"

Jeremy and I celebrated our 13th wedding anniversary on May 20th. Our wedding day was a very happy day...truly it was. We celebrated surrounded by friends and family. He was my "the one" and I was his.

It was a flawless day....perfectly packaged in love and laughter...daisies and tulle!

We were off on an adventure...a new beginning together....we had "It".......and if you had asked me right then and there as I stepped into this limo how we would be spending our anniversaries in the future...I know I would have answered....dressed up, together, somewhere fancy, happy.

Fast forward 13 years.....

We are together....so much more so than we were on our wedding day...we have bonded through positive pregnancy tests, health scares, first steps, family dinners, sleeping on the mattress because you are too spent to put the clean sheets on, loss, debt, cuddles on the couch, worrying about every tiny detail of four very different children, weeds in the landscaping and catching lighting bugs.  But all of this we have done together. Dressed up is for special occasions now.....on this anniversary he has on scrubs from work and I don short and a t shirt...something comfy to clean, cook and play in. Somewhere fancy is right here in our home for this anniversary. We may need a babysitting favor sometime but don't to waste it on an anniversary dinner we probably can't afford any way and would feel guilty even ordering. Fancy is in my heart and can be found for us...in a few moments alone....with any kind of meal. Every year is different and this year fancy has a new look for sure.

Happy.......well you can see that for your self. I spent the night of my 13th wedding anniversary being a wife and mother. Giving baths and wrapping sweet littles in warm towels and smelling of baby lotion. Reading bed time stories and kissing warm, sweet cheeks good night...and listening to brothers remind each other so say their prayers as I turned their light off.  I sat on the couch with my husband at the end of the day and we watched a video of 13 years of memories and we cried together. Yhea.....I would say we still have "it". And I am tired....and definitely a mess...but happy for sure.

"Most of my life," she says, "I've been in search of IT. And I thought IT came inside a big box with a bow on top carefully marked and labeled and numbered. I brushed away all the 'incidental' discoveries like cobwebs. But now everything counts. Now I search for traces of miracles.....and I find them everywhere." 

#172 from my favorite book....the Persistence of Yellow