Nineteen

Nineteen years ago today, Doc and I were married in the Manti, Utah temple, which was completed in the year 1888 by the pioneers who settled that part of the country. It's one of the most beautiful places I have ever been in.

Together we walked up the open-center spiral staircase that winds up the 179-foot tower

arriving in The Wells Room, where our family and friends were awaiting our arrival.

We knelt across the altar from each other, and, holding hands, were married and sealed in holy matrimony for time and eternity.

As we left the temple, someone snapped this photo of us...the first ever of Doc and I as a married couple. Naturally, my eyes are shut.

Despite my inclination towards extremely poufy dresses with puffed sleeves, (when else would I ever be justified in such an exhibition?), and regardless of the various inauspicious events transpiring in my life during that time and since, we have been blessed in countless ways through our marriage.

Growing up we learn of marriage, and hear various bits of advice about how to find a suitable match, how to make it last, and the joys of happily ever aftering with your soul mate. Not much is told of how to weather the inevitable storms of life, when not to give up, and what is worth fighting for.

Doc and I have had our share of storms. And I'd be lying if there haven't been throw-in-the-towel moments for both of us. But I am humbled that somehow we have made it together this far. That we have both done enough right in our relationship that we still really do love each other, and want to be together.

There is something priceless and precious about being with someone through all those early years together. Through having our babies and raising them during those long, sleep deprived nights of their early years, while finishing college and graduate school, finding those first jobs, and the myriad experiences that have happened as we've come-of-age. There is a kind of intimacy and a sense of being known when you share these years together that can't be recreated later in life. We have countless memories with each other from these past 22 years since we fell in love.

So today, darling Doc, as you are away on call at the hospital, and busy tenderly serving people in very critical condition, I am thinking of you, and remembering all the years of life we've shared together. And I am so grateful for the forgiveness, the humility, the devotion, the commitment, the wisdom, love and support you have given me through both the good times and hard.

In a world where over half of marriages fall apart when the going gets tough, we have beaten the odds. And I hope we never stop beating them.

I love you Mr. Right! ♥

Grateful for:
1) Doc somehow finding me in this great big world. We were just 18.
2) Unconditional love.
3) Being married to an honest man.