I'd like to start this post out by clarifying that it is not my anniversary. Nor did my wife and I get into some huge argument that only drastic measures are going to resolve. It's not her birthday, I didn't screw up, nothing is out of the ordinary. Except my wife. She's been extraordinary from the start.
I'm surprised that I ever worked up the courage to ask Julie out. It was never a matter that she was out of my league. It was that I wasn't even on a team. There should have never been an interest on her part. How we got to the point where I muttered something about liking her and wanting to check out a movie I'll never know. My guess? Dumb luck or divine providence. I can't even clearly remember the asking. What I can remember is the sick feeling in the pit of my stomach as I awaited the inevitable rejection. I can also remember the feeling when she agreed to go out with me. It is the only time in my life when I felt indestructible, finally the superhero I always secretly wanted to be.
I remember clearly when I asked her to marry me. I felt bewildered. Not because she said yes, although no one could blame you for that conclusion. It was because I was confident that she was going to say yes. She had made it clear to me a few weeks before the big night that she wanted to marry me. Me!?!?! After wondering if she would ever like me, it was humbling to know that I had a sure yes coming when I got down on my knee and asked the most important question I was ever going to utter. It still seems inconceivable fourteen years later.
I just discovered a few weeks ago that I have been married for fourteen years. (thanks, Suresh!) I could have swore we had only done thirteen. I feel like I've missed an entire year somewhere. That's because at no time has it been difficult to be married to Julie. Oh, we've had our fights, our disagreements, but when you know that you have been blessed beyond anything you deserve, you just hope that the other person doesn't wake up one morning and realize it.
Today was nothing special. We did yard work. There is no candlelight diner on the schedule. There is nothing to make this evening any different than the typical life we have together. But life doesn't need to be special, because she is. And I am reminded in a myriad of ways, daily, of how blessed I am by such an extraordinary wife. And for that, I am truly grateful.
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