It's now mid-January of a new year...14 years engaged this year, and 13 years married..."unlucky 13" they say...but they don't know of a Friday the 13th 14 years ago, when you asked, nervous, under dark sky, for forever, and I said yes, and stars sparkled and you slipped a brillliant on my left hand.
We were so happy, so young, and so excited to be starting on this new life, new adventure together. Sixteen months later, I walked down an aisle, dressed in white, nervous but excited...vows of forever, bands of gold, a kiss, and just like that, we were husband and wife. A short honeymoon on that Island of red dirt...and then you were back in classes to finish your degree and become My Engineer. A move to a new province...
We didn't know all the things that we'd encounter on our journey together. A new house, a new neighbourhood. A first job that only lasted two years...a layoff of eight months, that rocked our world and sent us reeling. Trusting God with wanting to start a family and praying for timing and a job. And oh, how perfect was His timing...just weeks after landing a great job, seeing those two faint lines confirm that we were going to be parents.
Disappointment that my grandmother wouldn't be able to know her great-grandchild, as she went home to Jesus in my first trimester. Both of us excitedly setting up a nest for our baby, preparing...and marvelling at my ever-changing body. We survived the Blackout of '03, and we ignored the no air-conditioning warning after we had power, to ease my swollen body into some comfort in August heat. A baby that was a week overdue...and came ahead of her scheduled induction...by c-section (did we even think this would be a possibility, in our desire to do things "right" and "naturally?"), all 10 lbs and 1/4 inch shy of two feet of her.
I had never seen you around babies that much...and I knew you didn't have very much experience with them. But with our DD, you took to it like you'd been doing it all your life. When you brought her back to me in recovery, she looked like she'd been in the crook of your arm forever. You were so tender with her, giving her her first bath, and diaper change in the hospital. And how great you were at taking care of me, with all the post-c-section stuff...doing things for me that I couldn't, helping me with things I needed help with that neither of us conceived (!) of before having her by section. How dependent I felt on you...and you know that I'm not a very dependent person.
A church upheaval after DD's arrival, that really rocked our universe. Having to leave a church, that we thought when we moved up here would be our "forever" church, where we'd raise our kids, and stay. Those months were horrible...truly gut-wrenching, and just when we would think it couldn't get crazier, it did. But it resolved, and we moved on...wounded, healed, and stronger...and smarter, for it. One of those things we'd never choose to go through, but having done it, wouldn't trade it in .
Two years later, our DS arrived...again another section, and you were amazing again at helping me, and doing baby-duty again. We were so much more prepared this time around, more relaxed, and knew what to expect. I was glad we had a son for you.
More job changes, a church change, and other things over the years...and now here we are, coming up on 13 years together. All these things we didn't know, couldn't have known, looking forward after we said "I do" to one another...but oh, what a story we'll have to share with our kids as they get older! It's our own Amazing Race...sometimes there are U turns, sometimes road blocks, sometimes detours...and sometimes we get to the end of a leg, and get that "you have to keep racing" message. There is no one I would rather race with in this life than you. I knew it coming up on 14 years ago, when I answered yes to your proposal...and I knew it when I promised you I do coming up on 13 years.
We're still racing babe! With all my respect,
Your wife the domestic engineer
Disappointment that my grandmother wouldn't be able to know her great-grandchild, as she went home to Jesus in my first trimester. Both of us excitedly setting up a nest for our baby, preparing...and marvelling at my ever-changing body. We survived the Blackout of '03, and we ignored the no air-conditioning warning after we had power, to ease my swollen body into some comfort in August heat. A baby that was a week overdue...and came ahead of her scheduled induction...by c-section (did we even think this would be a possibility, in our desire to do things "right" and "naturally?"), all 10 lbs and 1/4 inch shy of two feet of her.
I had never seen you around babies that much...and I knew you didn't have very much experience with them. But with our DD, you took to it like you'd been doing it all your life. When you brought her back to me in recovery, she looked like she'd been in the crook of your arm forever. You were so tender with her, giving her her first bath, and diaper change in the hospital. And how great you were at taking care of me, with all the post-c-section stuff...doing things for me that I couldn't, helping me with things I needed help with that neither of us conceived (!) of before having her by section. How dependent I felt on you...and you know that I'm not a very dependent person.
A church upheaval after DD's arrival, that really rocked our universe. Having to leave a church, that we thought when we moved up here would be our "forever" church, where we'd raise our kids, and stay. Those months were horrible...truly gut-wrenching, and just when we would think it couldn't get crazier, it did. But it resolved, and we moved on...wounded, healed, and stronger...and smarter, for it. One of those things we'd never choose to go through, but having done it, wouldn't trade it in .
Two years later, our DS arrived...again another section, and you were amazing again at helping me, and doing baby-duty again. We were so much more prepared this time around, more relaxed, and knew what to expect. I was glad we had a son for you.
More job changes, a church change, and other things over the years...and now here we are, coming up on 13 years together. All these things we didn't know, couldn't have known, looking forward after we said "I do" to one another...but oh, what a story we'll have to share with our kids as they get older! It's our own Amazing Race...sometimes there are U turns, sometimes road blocks, sometimes detours...and sometimes we get to the end of a leg, and get that "you have to keep racing" message. There is no one I would rather race with in this life than you. I knew it coming up on 14 years ago, when I answered yes to your proposal...and I knew it when I promised you I do coming up on 13 years.
We're still racing babe! With all my respect,
Your wife the domestic engineer

