17 Years

When I was 29 and very broken…I just wanted someone to love me, and be a father to my then two year old boy. What I got was someone who showed me that I am worthy of love and worth more than what I thought I ever deserved. Life can beat you up…and I was a bit beat up. I needed a tough man, but one that was firm in his love for me.

Lots of people like to say that life will either make you or break you…I like to think it didn’t break me, but made me tougher.

My husband and I will celebrate 17 years together August 23rd. What that means for those who met each other in high school, and those who met each other after having their hearts broken and had to bring kids from other marriages together have a completely different take on getting to this milestone.

We didn’t do everything right….we did a lot of things wrong. First, if your asking advice that’s the first thing I would say. The second thing I would tell you is that divorce is messy, and ugly…and it hurts the people that normally have nothing to do with it. It makes life harder, and it’s not what God intended. That being said, when someone tells you they no longer love you, and they refuse to be faithful to you, there’s not a lot that you can do to save that relationship, no matter how hard you beg. Trust me, I tried.

Finally, here’s what we did right. We made a commitment to one another. We made a choice that each day, whether we felt like it or not, we would make the choice to love each other. Through the battle scars of divorce and death of previous spouses, we have marched on. We have dealt with shared custody, adoption of one child, and having a child together that United them all together.

We made a choice as business partners that we would do what was best for our store and in turn our community, our employees. Finding balance is hard…making time for one another takes constant work.

My husband is honest, and trustworthy. He always has time for our children. He is an amazing jeweler, and gifted musician. Everything he touches turns to perfection.

Last night as we laid under the stars and I look back at all we have been through the last seventeen years. Three houses, two surgeries, one child adoption of my birth son, one birth of our child together. We have sat through high school graduations and so far one college graduation. We have sat through dance recitals and violin recitals. We have sat through plays and orchestra recitals. We have sat through Camp Geiger tapping ceremonies and finally Eagle ceremony! We have traveled to places we never thought we would enjoy and still have great plans for more adventures.

As we looked up at this view…

But with the stars shining through…I was as grateful as I would be had I been laying in a king size bed in the nicest destination I could even imagine….