Our 15th Anniversary

In just a few hours, it will officially be our 15th wedding anniversary. For fifteen years, Albert and I have been married to each other. We were married at 19, so in some ways, we've grown up together. Really, we were still kids the day we said our vows, with our four day old son in tow. And being married as kids is a pretty steep learning curve. I'd love to say it's been "happily ever after" but that would be...well..not true at all. And besides, is anything ever completely "happily ever after?"

We've had our share of ups and downs...in fact we both behaved quite destructively those first several years. We've dealt with Brandon's illness- I think that was by far the most difficult...needing to be strong for our children and hold each other up when we were both completely crumbling and struggling and so afraid ourselves.
We have each made our share of mistakes, we've hurt each other, hurt our marriage. And then we've forgiven each other and asked God to heal our marriage. We've had wonderful times, terrible times, smooth sailing and rough patches(including the one we're currently lifting out of). Yet, I have to say that I wouldn't trade my life with him for anything, not for a zillion dollars.

See, Albert is not just my husband, he's my best friend. He is the one person in the world who knows everything about me, and loves me anyway. He knows me like the back of his hand- I cannot hide any emotion from him- anger, fear, sadness- he can call me out on my feelings anytime. We share a connection that is powerful, and real. Thank God for sticking it out, because if we hadn't, we wouldn't be where we are today- rough patches and all.

I mentioned our wedding day, in my post about Drew and his birthday. I didn't mention how nervous Albert was that day. How he'd fumbled around getting dressed and asking fifty times whether he looked alright. I promise, he took more time getting ready than I did! And I had a baby to dress! On the way out of the house, he accidentally knocked over a potted plant and dirt spilled onto the ground. My sister, in a totally solemn voice said, "Oh No! Albert! That plant had my grandma's ashes in it! It was from her house, and my mom sprinkled some of her ashes in that plant and you knocked it over!" Poor Albert was mortified and this only added to his gigantic case of nerves. We needed to stop for gas on the way to the court house. Albert was driving, I was beside him in the passenger seat, and Drew and my sisters were in the backseat. As he pulled to the gas pump, he inexplicably circled around it again, and again, and again, seemingly unable to stop the car! My sisters were both hee-hawing in the backseat as I told my soon-to-be husband to calm down and relax.He did and we finally made it to the court house.

Now, fifteen years and ten kids later, it's amazing and astonishing to look back over those years. Where did they go? The way we've grown and changed from two immature kids who didn't know the first thing about love, respect, commitment, loyalty, let alone parenting, to where we are today in honest-to-goodness LOVE is mind blowing.

So I can't wait till tomorrow. I love our anniversary. I love it better than my birthday, or Valentines Day or Mother's Day. I love celebrating us, it feels like such a victory, such an achievement, each year we grow together. We love sharing the day with our children- after all, celebrating an anniversary is essentially celebrating the beginning of a family. And so it should be a family affair, although...the night is reserved just for the two of us, at a Brazilian restaurant Albert found that he's really excited about taking me to. Tonight, I feel happy and content and in love...