4,383 Days of Marital Bliss

June 1st was our twelve year wedding anniversary. How crazy is that? Three kids, one dog, two houses and about a dozen cars later...here we are!!




Two years into our dating life, Scott proposed to me on Valentine's Day. Scott had just come back from a semester in Scotland (December 1993) and we were trying to figure out where life was going to take us. We were still in college at the time and we didn't want to get married until I knew where I would be employed come graduation and until Scott knew what he was doing about law school. Two more years later, on June 1, 1996, Scott and I were married in a Catholic mass at St. Patrick's Catholic Church in Grand Haven. Outside of the birth of our three children, it was the most beautiful day of my life.



To mark the day, I thought it would be fun to pull out our wedding album and let the girls see what we looked like then. Sammi wanted to know who the twelve year old was in the picture with her mom - of course, that would be my child-husband, Scott. We did look young (he more than I)- but more than that we looked happy, excited, ready for whatever life threw at us. Good thing too, because life threw us many a curve ball those first few years. We lived in Lansing our first year of marriage, away from the family that we loved and had come to rely on as our security nets. We had only each other to confide in, to fight with and to talk to...we built a foundation that has weathered a lot of life's storms that year.


On anniversaries, you can't help but look back on the past years and remember those images that you have permanently etched into your memory. If I close my eyes, I can still see Scott's expression the first time he walked into the church before our ceremony and saw me in my dress. If I close my eyes, I can still see how handsome he looked in his tux and the certainty in his eyes when he said his vows. I can still hear my dear friend, Jerry Privasky, sing the "Our Father" - a moment that brought tears to both our eyes because it was so beautifully done and meant so much to both of us. And the flowers...who could ever forget those flowers..right Mom?


This anniversary seems particularly sweet. We are in a place in our lives that just feels so natural and comfortable - a place of reconnection. Our kids are a bit older now - we aren't up half the night and we're aren't as sleep deprived. We are not doing rock-paper-scissors for who has to change diapers or get a bottle ready. We can actually spend ten minutes talking about our day without being interrupted with some kind of emergency. As I write this, I feel at peace with where I am in life and with the life that we have built for ourselves and for our kids. Don't get me wrong, times are not all blissfully sweet - there are plenty of times that we don't see eye to eye on anything for weeks on end - but somehow we've managed to love each other through all of those times and persevere to a place that is warm and soft, caring and loving.


I am grateful every day that this handsome, loving man asked me to marry him. I have thanked my lucky stars a million times that he picked me and that I was smart enough to grab on with two hands for the ride of a lifetime. Happy Anniversary, Bub. You are my life, my love, my forever.