Nine Years

Nine years ago today, I married my best friend.  Heading down the aisle with Pop singing the oh-ee-oh guard song from The Wizard of Oz under his breath, I swear my feet left the ground.  This boy, this wonderful, handsome, hilarious boy, was about to be my husband.

I'm still floating.

Nine years of dinners.  Nine years of dishes and laundry and budgeting and grocery shopping.  Nine years of ups and downs, nine years of transitioning from job to job, both professionally and at home.  Nine years of home repairs, financial malarkey, and the millions of little details that go into building a life together.

Nine years of memories.  Some of the biggies: driving home with Bubbles on her first day as a member of our family.  Meeting Piggy in that little hole-in-the-wall pet store by the movie theater.  That day the second line finally showed up on the pregnancy test.  The crazy debacle with the freak snow storm in April while I was in the hospital for The Princess's arrival.

Those are obvious.  Everyone looks back fondly on those days.  For me, though, what makes us special and keeps me floating a couple of inches above the ground is the little stuff.  Biking together.  Hiking together.  Claiming the neighborhood beach as our own for months at a time.  Mr. Amazing, absolutely nailing the whole stay-at-home dad/hubby role.  All of our inside jokes: swattas, ee-honk-honk, mule turkey banana brain snort, and so many more.  Helping each other move outside of our comfort zones, and discovering new ways to go about everyday life while forming traditions of our own...one tiny change at a time.

Nine years of little insignificant conversations that, when added up, helped to build the most significant bond in my life.

Nine years of hugs and tickles and kisses goodnight.

Yes, I'm still floating.  I never would have believed how much those little things add up over time, but now I can't imagine life without them.  I am in awe of how much my life has changed for the better since I met The Hubbs, and I can't wait to see how high I'll be floating as we add more years to the stack.

Just imagine how high I'll be able to float after 25 or 50 years, if 9 have gotten me this far.  I can only hope and pray that we're fortunate enough to turn old and gray together.

Hey, Swa?  I love you, man.  Like really, really big.  Thank you for going on this journey with me.  I can't imagine a better co-pilot.