10 Years

Ten years ago today I married my best friend.  We were married in the beautiful courtyard of a historic inn in Charleston, South Carolina.  We were just dating when we first visited Charleston together and I fell in love with the city in two seconds.  Just like I fell in love with my husband.

Yes, it’s true.  It was love at first sight.  The one you always dream about. The kind in fairy tales.  We worked together so it started out as a secret romance which really made it fun.  He was, and still is, my soul mate.

We were married four days after 9/11.  It’s defining because it slammed everything into perspective.  It didn’t matter if my hair wasn’t perfect.  It didn’t matter if it was too hot outside.  It mattered that all my friends and family made it to our wedding.  It mattered that I stood in front of all these people and committed myself to the love of my life.

And we had the perfect destination wedding with 30 of our closest friends and family members. Everyone was just so excited to be there to celebrate something happy. It’s weird because I thought there would be this dark cloud overshadowing our special day.  But it didn’t feel like that at all.  The love in the room was just elevated. Our only gift request was that everyone stand up and give us a wedding toast and everyone’s words left us speechless.  It was awesome.  We had an informal reception in the dining hall of Magnolias restaurant where I danced with my Dad and cut the cake.  We all ended up at a small local bar for drinks. At the end of the night, Hubbie and I walked back to the Inn hand in hand while everyone yelled “Congrats!” along the way.  I was floating on air.

But there are two key memories I will never forget about that weekend.  Memories that I don’t think I’ve even shared with my husband. The first was watching the 9/11 footage together the day we arrived.  We planned to fly, but had to drive because everything was canceled.  We sat at the end of our poster bed, almost in shock, as we watched the rescue workers still trying to find survivors in all the rubble.  It was heartbreaking.  Then a young man was interviewed about his fiance.  She was missing and he had hope.  He said he would not give up hope that he could still find her.  She worked on the top floor of one of the towers, but, he said, she was a survivor.  He planned to stay there at the sight with his friends and family and he would shovel the rocks and metal until he found her.  We both sat and cried.  My husband, who never cries, was right there with me.  We both could not imagine losing each other.

The second memory happened the morning of our wedding.  We were staying together in the same room and planned to separate before the ceremony.  I don’t know if it was nerves, or the southern food from our welcome dinner the night before, but my stomach was killing me.  I had trouble sleeping.  I felt horrible tossing and turning in the bed all night and waking up Hubbie at 6:00 AM to complain about my tummy.  He didn’t even hesitate one second as he threw on clothes and shoes and headed out to find me some antacid. It was still dark outside.  He came back 45 minutes later because the only thing open was a grocery store about 20 blocks away.  He gave me a bag of medicine and the only thing he said was how the grocery store was so awesome because it was located in an old railroad station.

He never said one word about losing sleep, not knowing where he was going, nothing.  He was, and still is, the most positive person I know.  This is a huge blessing for me because I tend to overstress and look at the negative side of a situation.  He will prop me back up and show me the other side.

We are partners in life and 10 years later you still make me laugh out loud, Baby.  You are the smartest person I know.  The sexiest thing ever is to watch you read to our two babies.  You are an amazing father. You lift me up when I’m down and you always have my back.  Please know I will always have your back too. I’m excited to continue this life journey with you as we drink red wine and sing the soundtrack to Les Miserables along the way.

Happy Anniversary, Baby.  I lovey you.  Forever.