Dear Shel ...
Seven years? ... Can you believe it?
Seven years ago we said, "I Do!" in front of two witnesses, a photographer, our pastor and a completely empty church. ... And no one else was none the wiser for a year!
Completed over a lunch hour, nice and tidy, some flowers, some signatures, a couple of photos and then we were hitched!
There you were, bashfully propped up on your crutches, because you wanted to look beautiful for me, even though it was our "rehearsal wedding" as we called it back then. But little did you know, that you could have arrived in a burlap sack, and I would have been just as happy.
I know it wasn't the wedding we had planned at first, but thankfully Pastor Matt understood the need to get you insured for your knee surgery and was willing to play along. (Shhh, don't anyone tell the HR department at FCC!) ... As we've learned all too well, you know what, sometimes necessity trumps romance!
And then there were Jared and Dawn who were so willing to be there to support us on what now has become the anniversary we really do celebrate. And the second wedding in June became the "noniversary," as we call it.
Finally, there was Linda, who captured this photo for us, which is, and forever will be, my most favorite photo of us. It holds so much meaning for me. ... Thank you Linda for capturing such a special day for us! You are forever linked to this day!
Shel ... Each year we celebrate this day, it becomes even more special to me because even though we still went through with the big June wedding that involved the kids and our families and friends, and even though that was beautiful for different reasons, it is today's anniversary that I hold in my heart.
Because it was today's wedding that started us down this crazy, tumultuous, winding and eventful journey that united two families into one. ... And it was today's wedding that before the very pastor who helped me pick up the broken pieces of my life and pull them back together, you said, "I do" and became the glue that held those fragile pieces in place until the cracks were healed.
It was there, at that empty church, in front of only four people and that beautiful Holy Spirit, where our lives became intertwined in our faith, in our family and in each other, and led us to where we are today.
I know I often joke that if we were to ever put this chaotic, topsy-turvy and ceaselessly entertaining life of ours on YouTube that we'd be instant millionaires, but I wouldn't want to be living this adventure with anyone but you!
Thank you again for that coffee date eight years ago. Thank you for coming back to find me after all those years apart after college. ... And thank you for having a vision of what could be long before I ever even knew it was coming!
Happy anniversary ... on our "real anniversary" my love! ... I love this love story more every year! ... (Oh, and happy Valentine's Day too!)
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