14 years

During most of our time dating Bill called me Sunshine.  I find this image fitting as we remain the sunshine in one another's life ensuring each other grow along the way.

Bill and I were married 14 years ago today.  A beautiful fall day in a church that remains a special and sacred place to us.  A building that holds many memories.  We've mourned and celebrated over the years there.

Today is a celebration of those years together.  Our celebration is far from Saratoga Springs where we grew up and were married.  That's the great thing about love.  It travels.  Without TSA and patience of getting through security.

You set up your own stops along the journey.  Boarding passes are the intentions that you make to one another and the unity of your marriage.  Sometimes you get re-routed, sometimes you're faced with delays.  In the end you arrive exactly where you are supposed to be on God's timeline.

Bill and I have been blessed in many, many ways.  We have families that love and support us.  We share an amazing daughter that we're grateful to be raising.  We've been fortunate with our careers that have led us to new and unchartered territory.  Most of all we've been blessed with patience and a strong sense of loyalty and forgiveness for one another.

What I truly appreciate is the stages of a marriage.  And believe me the wedding isn't one of them.  And the photos over the years don't do it justice either.

A marriage shows it's worth when you make a big decision together.  Both fearful of the future, yet believing with the strength of one another we'll make it work.

A marriage shows it's worth when you stand at the hospital bedside of a loved one together, with a shared pain searing your heart knowing you can't fix the cracks in the other's heart.

A marriage shows it's worth when you hold hands and tell one another this will all work out as you watch your newborn baby be wheeled away from your hospital room because she's having trouble breathing.

A marriage shows it's worth when you move to different states without other family in hopes of making new friends, and you are still excited that you are sharing that scary experience together!

We like to think of all the celebrations, birthdays, anniversaries, vacations, holidays - where the photos are taken as the view inside a marriage.  But after 14 years I know differently.

A good marriage takes hard work.  A willingness to be patience through the ebbs and flows of job stress, illness, insecurity and even boredom.

A good marriage at the end of day looks like two exhausted, working parents who take the time to acknowledge that although some days are harder than others, it is the very best feeling to just hold hands and smile as we meet on the couch to enjoy the quiet together.  At that point I  close my eyes and ask God to continue to bless us, our family and our marriage.  I thank him for all the blessings he has given us - and without being shy about it, I ask for many, many more years of the same darned thing!

2002

Wedding day - Saratoga Springs, NY

2012

Fall foliage - Bloomington, IL

 2016

Wine tour - Palma de Mallorca, Spain