Happy anniversary?

I did the math. Austin and I have been married for 1,460 days. If my memory is correct, we have spent 708 nights apart. 49%! And my best guess is that by the time Austin gets home we will have peaked over that 50% mark.

It seems sad on the surface to think that we have spent half of our young marriage apart. And it is sad! But the time spent together has been so fruitful and so nurtured that it has rarely felt like an injustice.

Not every moment in the last 4 years has been beautiful, and certainly not every moment in the last year. There have been hard times and sad times and times that have tested our love and faith. But I can say with (almost 100%) certainty that I am thankful for the trials we have faced.

I am thankful for the tears. I am thankful for the fights. I am thankful for the nights when I wondered if I would ever see him again. I am thankful because all of that has made the good times that much sweeter. Every night that we have been able to be together I can honestly say we have cherished. Every morning when we have been able to have breakfast together, every evening when we've cooked together after work...every walk to the park, every hug goodbye and kiss goodnight...we haven't taken any of it for granted, and I believe it has strengthened our marriage in ways we will never fully understand.

I'd be lying if I said I wasn't sad to be alone on our anniversary but I had the next best thing: I got to go on a special date with Austin's clone and the best part of our love. William is the greatest gift that Austin has ever given me and aside from spending the day with Austin I couldn't have had a better anniversary evening.

So while I woke up unsure about whether or not to wish myself a 'happy' anniversary and not quite sure how I'd keep a smile through the day, I realized that it was happy regardless of the circumstances. 4 years ago the greatest man God could have blessed me with vowed to love me for the rest of his life. He made bold promises, promises I know he will keep. And any day that I get to celebrate that love and those promises will always be a happy day.

But Maybe we should have thrown 'together And apart' in our vows :)


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