31 Wonderful Years

Was I ever that young? Was he?

Looking into the past through the gloss of a still vibrant picture, I can feel the hope in our eyes, the joy in our smiles. Wedding days are a wonder. A grace. A miracle from God. My wedding day was a moment in time when everything seemed possible, and there was nothing bad that could touch the joy I shared with my new husband.

July 31, 1982.

I was a nervous, 19-year-old bride gliding down the aisle of Holy Family Church on the arm of my father. Despite wedding day jitters, my entire body hummed with expectation. I was beginning life anew, with a man who had swept into my life, and my heart, so quickly, and so perfectly, that I knew he was my other half. This was the man God created with me in mind. The man I was meant to be with. My forever love.

That ideal remains in place to this day.

I say that not because life has been a rose-colored voyage of ease. Far from it. Almost immediately, our marriage was tested by fire. Promptly after our return from the honeymoon, my husband's company transferred us to a remote part of northern Michigan. Not even a year later, he lost his job to downsizing. I was nine-months pregnant we had precious little money and now, no health benefits. As soon as our son was born, we needed to move back to "the city" and find work. Praise God, we did, because my recovery from a C-section left our money was depleted and we were now a family, not just a couple. We struggled like mad to make ends meet.

Our son was barely a year old when  I received a phone call I pray no one ever has to live through. It was my father-in-law on the line, barely able to speak. "Can you get to Indiana as fast as possible? Ruth was killed in an automobile accident." In a shattering instant, my husband's mother was gone...and I had to call him at work and break the news. My heart still bears that scar.

A four hour car drive to Fort Wayne felt like the passing of years, with days and months marked by the tears we cried as we made our way to the heart of our family. God's strength alone brought us through the nightmare of her death at the hands of a reckless driver.

The three chord strand didn't unravel. True to God's promise, as we focused on him, our love grew stronger. We upheld one another through the storms.There have been health scares--moments we clung to one another, prayed with fervor and sat next to one another during terrifying moments not because we had to, or were obligated to, but because we wanted to, and there was no way we'd leave one another to face a trial alone.

And then there have been moments of purest joy--the birthdays of our two precious children. The day we watched our son marry his high school sweetheart, the day we cheered  and rejoiced when our daughter graduated from Michigan State University. There are simple pleasure--times when we crack crazy jokes while we dance in the kitchen. There are kisses hello, or goodbye (something we precious seldom neglect to do...) There have been numerous celebrations--of successes, of milestone moments, incredible trips to the London and Hawaii, and the incomparable blessing of sitting on a dock, side by side, with a canopy of stars above our heads so bright and rich their pin-points of light were reflected in the glass-like lake at our feet.

We argue, we make up. We get mad, we get glad. We've shared so much together I hardly know where I end and he begins anymore. We're not perfect, but we're in love, and we have a marriage not of two, but of three - Husband, Wife, GOD. On Him we rely, and He is ever faithful. We're living proof of that promise and truth.

And so, today I want to say, thank you, my love, for all that you are and all that you do. I love you. I'm ready and waiting for where God leads us next, so as we dance the path He's given us, let's keep smiling, glowing, and leaning on Him, and one another.

Most of all, thank you for the honor of being your wife for 31 Wonderful Years.