For our 16th Anniversary ~
My dearest Tom,
Can you even begin to know the joy that you bring to my heart? To my life? To my spirit? No matter what happens in our day to day life together, I always love hearing your voice and your sweet way of making me feel that I am the only person in the world that you want to talk to. Your "Hey, Honey" makes my heart sing.
And yes, you bring me JOY.
Remembering back to our wedding day, and seeing your adoring face at the end of the aisle. Waiting for me. You were all that I saw. And your face...it radiated JOY. How I love that our Nuptial Mass with all of the readings and prayers and joy-filled songs that we chose together made our commitment a truly joyous celebration of our love. Our faith. Our connectedness to the God who brought us together, and to the holy host of others in that Communion of Saints. I clearly remember so many small moments of that day.
The touch of your hand.
The sweet whispered reminders of "it's just us. getting married. TODAY!"
The sound of your voice when you spoke vows directly to me.
The feel of you next to me as Paige sang "Ave Maria" as we knelt before the Blessed Mother. Together. As one. JOY.
(And our boys? Well. Talk about a whole lot of joy-filled goodness there. Our gifted by God children who continually make me laugh because I can see the silly you in them. JOY.)
And finally, I thank you for all of the ways that you have helped me navigate through this often scary world. So many moments of fear. Of just "not-knowing". Of broken dreams and brokenness. Somehow, you help me to laugh and cry at the same time so that the fear slides away and I can see that WE are so much stronger together. I can honestly say that I recognize how young we were and how it all could have gone wrong. But thank GOD that we have grown together. Grown in love. And yes, grown in JOY.
I thank my God for you, for you are indeed the "visible reminder of the invisible God." My own "Discovery" gift. :)
My life is yours, my love, for now and for forever. Joy indeed.
With all of my heart,
~MJ
**A thousand pardons for taking more than 5 minutes today. SO much joy is in my heart, and this is just a fraction of what I need to/ want to say.....
Won’t you link up with us?
My dearest Tom,
Can you even begin to know the joy that you bring to my heart? To my life? To my spirit? No matter what happens in our day to day life together, I always love hearing your voice and your sweet way of making me feel that I am the only person in the world that you want to talk to. Your "Hey, Honey" makes my heart sing.
And yes, you bring me JOY.
Remembering back to our wedding day, and seeing your adoring face at the end of the aisle. Waiting for me. You were all that I saw. And your face...it radiated JOY. How I love that our Nuptial Mass with all of the readings and prayers and joy-filled songs that we chose together made our commitment a truly joyous celebration of our love. Our faith. Our connectedness to the God who brought us together, and to the holy host of others in that Communion of Saints. I clearly remember so many small moments of that day.
The touch of your hand.
The sweet whispered reminders of "it's just us. getting married. TODAY!"
The sound of your voice when you spoke vows directly to me.
The feel of you next to me as Paige sang "Ave Maria" as we knelt before the Blessed Mother. Together. As one. JOY.
(And our boys? Well. Talk about a whole lot of joy-filled goodness there. Our gifted by God children who continually make me laugh because I can see the silly you in them. JOY.)
And finally, I thank you for all of the ways that you have helped me navigate through this often scary world. So many moments of fear. Of just "not-knowing". Of broken dreams and brokenness. Somehow, you help me to laugh and cry at the same time so that the fear slides away and I can see that WE are so much stronger together. I can honestly say that I recognize how young we were and how it all could have gone wrong. But thank GOD that we have grown together. Grown in love. And yes, grown in JOY.
I thank my God for you, for you are indeed the "visible reminder of the invisible God." My own "Discovery" gift. :)
My life is yours, my love, for now and for forever. Joy indeed.
With all of my heart,
~MJ
**A thousand pardons for taking more than 5 minutes today. SO much joy is in my heart, and this is just a fraction of what I need to/ want to say.....
Won’t you link up with us?
- 1. Write for 5 minutes flat – no editing, no over thinking, no backtracking.
- 2. Link back here and invite others to join in.
- 3. Go a little overboard encouraging the writer who linked up before you.
All right... hopefully this post means that I don't have to go to Hallmark on my way home from work to spend 5 bucks on a card :)
ReplyDeleteI can just say it here... a little more public than a normal anniversary card, but when were we ever one to keep our feelings (both happy and sad) hidden to ourselves. It certainly has been a wild ride these 16 years, but crazy turns and loop de loops are what make roller coasters fun and marriages interesting. I think that I love you even more for the way that you have held my hand and my heart during the difficult times. Your strength and compassion amaze me. The shoulders upon which you carry those you love, the eyes with which you are able to always see beauty in the world around you, the enormous heart with which you love and forgive, and the hands with which you touch all of those who are blessed enough to come into your life. I look at you sometimes and don't know how you are able to contain the emotions waiting to explode outward. There's a line in Dead Poets Society in which they quote Thoreau as saying "I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life". It must be exhausting sometimes, but you do that every day, and you continually appreciate the amazing gifts that we have been given. You don't take our boys, or me, or your friends, or your family, or our God for granted... ever.
And so, my soul smiles as I write this and remember back 16 years ago to when we were so young and so full of expectation. We were doe-eyed and in love. But, it was a love untested. Through the trials and tribulations, I can honestly say that I love you more now than I ever could have imagined on that day at St. Bede's 16 years ago. We had no idea what "better or worse, richer or poorer, in sickness or in health" actually meant. But, because of that promise, that commitment to each other, we have grown in ways I never thought possible. And as I sit here at work for the rest of the day, my heart cannot wait to see your beautiful face this evening and to take you out on an actual date again, just the two of us. Until then, know that I simply adore you and cannot imagine a life without you by my side.
A beautiful tribute to your amazing love. Happy Anniversary dear...it was a beautiful day!
ReplyDeleteI love you both with all my heart! And I love that you love each other! And we all love the boys! Mumma Ann
ReplyDelete