Today I celebrate my 16th wedding anniversary with my very best friend in the world. That’s right. SIXTEEN years. We have actually been together for 19 years. Which is rather amazing considering that I am only 26. (Anyone buying that?)
What an amazing ride it has been. We have seen each other through more things in the past 16 years than I could have ever imagined. We’ve lost a child and brought 3 amazing and healthy children into this world. We have seen births and deaths, marriages and divorces, new jobs and job losses. We’ve seen each other at our best and our worst. Because we met when we were just teenagers, we have learned about real love. Adult love. Love that sticks around when you don’t particularly like each other. Love that wakes up with you day after day seeing the bed head and bad breath and still smiles at you. Love that doesn’t see those new lines in your face or the grey sneaking into your hair. Love that holds on tightly to you when your life is turned upside down and you try to blindly find your way to the new you. We have learned to love on a level so deep it is beyond description. (Though here I sit trying to do so.)
When we got married I was a skinny, big haired blonde in college with no idea who I wanted to be when I grew up. Sixteen years later, I am a not-so-skinny-thankyouverymuch, blunt cut redhead who is still trying to figure out who I want to be when I grow up. Through it all, Clint stood beside me. Never waivering. And trust me…when I go all MENTAL over a bad haircut, or get banned from Fry’s for stripping down and climbing into the washing machine, or have fights with U-Scan machines and even when I try to convince him that our laptops share the same deep love for each other that we do, there is plenty of ammunition to run for the hills and have no one think twice about his choice. But he stays and loves me unconditionally.
In short, we laugh together. A lot. So many of our late night talks end up with both of us laughing that real, belly laugh that makes you feel happy from head to toe. We find humor in even the hardest of times. He is the man I always knew he would be when we met as teenagers. He is the father I always dreamed of for my children. He is the part of my life that keeps me grounded, yet lets me reach for my dreams with his full support.
Sixteen years. I can hardly wait to see what the next 16 years bring.
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