Day 68: You Had Me At "Hey Baby"

Thirty one years ago today, I walked down the aisle of a tiny, sunlit country church on the arm of my daddy, heart pounding, hands shaking (literally to the point that my bouquet came apart!), waiting to marry the man of my dreams.

That's still such a pretty picture in my mind.  I love thinking about that day and all the promise that it held.

We I had such great plans.

We'd marry.  We'd have a baby boy 3 years into our marriage.  Then we'd have our second child, a girl, three years later.  We'd both be uber professionals.  Mike would most likely be a professor at LSU, tenured of course,  and I'd most likely be running some fortune 500 company.

We'd own a plantation style home and all our family celebrations would take place there.

We would amass a fortune pretty early on, and retire early.

I love thinking back to those days and how well planned everything was.  True to my nature, even back then I was a control freak!

But here is the blessing of the last 31 years of our marriage.  It has looked nothing like the picture in my mind. 

We have traversed some pretty turbulent waters and suffered much loss. We have lost a child, lost parents and grandparents, lost jobs, lost weight (gained it back!) lost our minds and lost our youth.

But oh what we have gained.

We did have two babies, both boys, and not at all in the time frame I thought. Those boys have been the greatest joy of our lives (I'm old . . . it's possible that I have forgotten the teenage years).

We have gained a daughter in law, whom we adore.  If God had let us handpick someone, we would have picked her.

We have gained our daughters, and they have changed our lives in immeasurable ways.

We have gained a deeper respect for one another. We have gained insight into each other's thoughts and reactions. We have gained a desire to grow closer to each other.  We have gained a love that surpasses time and circumstance.

All that to say, Mike Jones, you had me at "Hey baby."