An Open Letter

To my Sweetheart;

Do you remember where we began?

 

Ten years of being best friends...and then...and then.... new and wonderful feelings stirred in our hearts. Somehow deeper and sweeter than the love between the dearest of friends...

 

Do you remember our first date? Walking on Mt. Soledad, the entire San Diego basin at our feet. You held my hand - and although I was terribly shy about such things, deep in my heart I wished you would kiss me. I didn't know that you were thinking the same thing....

Our time together seemed all too short with me in Arizona and you in California. Somehow we made long-distance work in the days before email and cellphones. Quiet walks on the beach, fun days at Disneyland, trips to the Temple, exploring Seaport Village - you gave me the coin for the wishing fountain there. Did you know that I wished for you? 

Finally - finally, all my wishes came true. Do you remember that night, 35 years ago today. (Can it really be that long ago? It seems like yesterday.) The Mesa Temple garden was still and beautiful. My heart was full - and to be honest - a little fearful. One little question could spark so many BIG changes...changing EVERYTHING!!!

You asked me to be your "wife, the mother of your children, and your eternal companion". All the things that one question would change in my life ran through my mind...but the Spirit was SO strong. How could I answer any other way but "Yes, I think I'd like that."

Do you remember the rest of the night? Magic roses, lipstick faces, joy, peace and almost giddy happiness? 

Can it really be 35 years? You were the answer to my prayers, everything I hoped, all my dreams come true. You still are. Seems like yesterday...the day you and I took the first of many steps to becoming us.

I love you, Kevin. I'd do everything all over again - as long as it was with you. And I'd still say 'yes'.

After...

"Happily Ever After"...

Have you ever wondered what happens after the characters in the fairy-tale romances ride off into the sunset for their "Happily Ever After"?  Do all the moments after that epic climax stay perfect in the rosy-glow of sunset? How do our fairy-tale heroes and heroines handle the bumps in the road of everyday life? And do they truly stay "Happily Ever After"?

Thirty years ago, Kevin and I took our first steps into our own "Happily Ever After". Our wedding day was everything I ever dreamed it would be. It was as perfect a day as I wished for.

Two days later, we packed up my life and drove off into our own sunset. Then reality happened...

I immediately had to find a job. Kevin was in his last year of college. We had to learn how to be happily married, and then I unexpectedly got pregnant. (We were actually trying NOT to get pregnant) We were adjusting to that new dynamic when I miscarried (the first of 10). We were newlyweds and now we had to learn how to go through grief and sorrow together. 

Thirty years ago....and yet it seems like yesterday. When we got engaged, I remember thinking "Wow, when we've been married 20 years I'll be 45...and 55 on our 30th anniversary!" It seemed so far in the distant future. Yet, here we are...

Over the last 30 years we've gone through some hard things. We've had some crazy adventures and laughed a lot. We've had some more grief and sorrow and helped each other weather every storm. When I reflect on the 30 years of our marriage, the golden thread running through the picture in my mind is love. Love for each other, love for our Heavenly Father, and love for the family He helped us make. That love and our partnership with our Heavenly Father have been the glue that kept us strong and kept us together. That and a really whacky sense of humor. 

When Kevin told his parents that he was going to ask me to marry him, after his dad quit laughing; he said, "Well, you'll never be bored!!!" Kevin would tell you that his dad was right, and he never has been bored. That's the benefit of having a really warped sense of humor and an ability to laugh at your own foibles.

Alan Jackson wrote a song entitled "Remember When...". It has become "our song". 

"Remember when 30 seemed so old? Now looking back, it's just a stepping stone - from where we are, where we've been, swore we'd do it all again...remember when?

Remember when we said when we turned grey, when the children grow up and move away; we won't be sad, we'll be glad for all the life we've had...and we'll remember when..."

Kevin and I both have said that we'd do it all again...all of it....

I guess that kind of answers my original question - do they stay "Happily Ever After?". 

Living our lives with the love of our lives IS our "Happily Ever After" because the hard things are bearable when you share them with your sweetheart and help each other through them. Conversely, the good and happy things are exponentially better and happier because you have someone with whom you can share the joy. 

So, Kevin...on the 30th Anniversary of OUR "Happily Ever After", here's to us and an eternity of more happiness-ever-after!  I would still say "yes", and would do it all again if it meant that I got to spend my life with you.

Happy Anniversary, my handsome-Prince!  I love you more!

                                       

Who'd have thought.....

...39 years ago at that Homecomimg football game...

...when I met you, that I was meeting my future husband and the love of my life? I certainly didn't. I just knew you were a nice young man who became one of my best friends for the next ten years.

I never imagined that our becoming friends would lead us here...

...on a very warm day in May... Oh, how happy you made me!!!

Our wedding day was everything I ever dreamed it would be. 

Honestly, it was the happiest day of my life - up to that point in my life. Everyday since has been better because I got to spend them with you.

Who'd have thought all those years ago, when the story of 'us' was so fresh and new, that this journey we call life would have unfolded as it did?

We've had great happiness and intense sorrow. We've had some scary moments, but most of all we've been able to find joy in our journey. Never once has the love diminished.

Who'd have thought we'd end up where we are today? Long ago, I told you "whither thou goest...I will go". That is still true today. Long ago you were told that if you married me, you'd never be bored...and you say you never have - I promise you never will. lol 

Wherever life takes us, however the rest of our story unfolds, we'll have a wonderful tale to tell because we stuck together, loved each other and made our "happily ever after" come true. Whatever happens, remember "I love you more!!!"

I am a firm believer in...

...happily ever after! I believe "Happily Ever After" can happen to anyone. It can become your reality if you choose to live that way. My own "Happily Ever After" began in earnest 27 years ago, today.

That was the day I went here:

...and married him for time and all eternity:

Up to that point in my life, it was the happiest day of my life!

I can honestly say that every day since has just been better and better. That's not to say that there haven't been some REALLY difficult times that tested our faith, commitment, and devotion to each other. But we always worked together to get through them. For us, the key was keeping our Heavenly Father as our partner in every part of our lives. ...and it's worked for us.

Marrying Kevin was the best choice I could have made. He's my soul-mate, my confidant, my partner in crime, my shoulder to cry on, my knight in shining armor, and my very best friend. 

Twenty-seven years ago, we took our first steps into our own "Happily Ever After" and have never regretted it. Now we stand looking out into the rest of our "Happily Ever After" and realize the best is yet to come.

Happy Anniversary, my dearest Kevin. I love you with all of my heart!