A Decade

Our Wedding Day Nov. 6, 1999

Today is my 10th wedding anniversary. It is a beautiful unseasonably warm November day. Crisp yellow, red, and orange leaves pepper the ground. The air is calm and the sun feels hot on my bare arms. Ten years ago, this day was almost exactly the same as it is today, but my life surrounding it is not.

We celebrated last night. Thanks to Grandparents and Aunt Brenda, our biggest change in ten years (three children) were well taken care of. Sonny drove home a Pontiac GTO for us to take out for the evening. After climbing in the sleek, lowered, two door sports car, and taking off with just the two of us inside, memories of years past flooded in.

With the corvette engine under the hood, smooth leather interior, and powerful stereo pumping through the speakers, Sonny couldn't resist pushing the gas pedal, throwing me back against my seat. The feeling was so familiar to me. When we started dating 12 years ago, I found myself in a different sports car (Nissan 300zx), with a different loud stereo, and a different version of the two of us. Our conversations in that car were about homework we had, friends we hung out with, movies we watched, and if we should ever get married. As we drove to the same Bed and Breakfast we stayed in the first night we were Mr. and Mrs., I thought of how happy I was that those conversations had evolved, changing with our lives.

We reminisced about the goals we had when we "started out". We talked about our achievements, our milestones. Driving along the familiar streets of our college town, we shared memories that took place in different buildings, parks, roads, or parking lots.

"I bought a guy's motorcycle there."
"The first dealership I worked at was there."
"We had our first date there."
"We bought your wedding ring there."
"We cashed our first tax refund there." (thought it was so much money!)
"We celebrated graduation there."
"We bought that great '70's jacket that gotten eaten by the neighbor's dog there."

Happy and sad, memories were fun to recount.


This is us now!


Sitting at dinner, with just the two of us- I felt so content. Despite stresses and challenges that show up as we age, I am glad to have lived through them. Though fast sports cars are fun, I am happy that I now permantely drive an 8 passenger SUV. A vehicle that carries the most important evidence that I've changed in the past 10 years, my family. The same people that Sonny's fortune talked about from his cookie last night- "Someone is looking up to you. Don't let that person down."

I don't know what will happen to us in the next ten years, or what kind of car I might be driving. I do know that I am going to do everything I can to live in the moments that make up those years. Then, on my 20th anniversary, I will feel just as happy as I do today.



Just Kidding, This is us now.