9-27-97

At this very moment 11 years ago I was at my wedding rehearsal dinner (a cookout on my parents’ deck, exactly what I’d requested), enjoying great food, cheap beer, and the company of family and friends from as far away as California. Everything about the week leading up to the wedding was just like that – food, family, friends, laughing. The wedding day itself was, too, although it went too fast and I didn’t get to talk to as many people as I wanted to for nearly long enough.

So, here we are, 11 years later. How do you sum up 11 years? Bret and I have:

• Lived in 4 houses (2 rented, 2 owned)
• Driven 8 cars (7 owned, 1 leased; 4 used, 4 new; 1 totaled)
• Visited the four “corners” of the continental U.S. (Seattle, San Diego, Bar Harbor, Key West)
• Attended the funerals of two grandparents, the weddings of several friends and siblings, and WAY too many graduations
• Raised a crazy German shepherd for nearly 11 years and cried buckets of tears when he was gone
• Fought and won a 6-year battle to become parents
  

It seems like a lifetime. It seems like a week.

Ellen Goodman says this about marriage: "We are told that people stay in love because of chemistry, or because they remain intrigued with each other, because of many kindnesses, because of luck. But part of it has got to be forgiveness and gratefulness."

I, for one, am grateful for all the forgiveness that has been shown to me. Thank you, dear husband, for these 11 years.