I sat in our bedroom on the floor surrounded by piles of memories.  I pulled out the bag that I stuffed all the treasures of our dating and early marriage into.  I flipped through cards, movie ticket and concert stubs, pictures, deflated valentines day balloons.  Each thing I opened bringing the smile on my face bigger and bigger.  Then I started on the pile of letters.  The words written first by hand on random bits of papers often including work schedules or half class notes on them in random spots and later to the printed emails that we shared during our year apart.  The progression of the love and maturity of those notes would astound you.  Two kids that fell in love at 16 and 17, wore their heart on their sleeve.  We would write each other several times of day.  Sometimes just a quick “I love you or thinking of you” and other times it was a lengthy profession of feelings that would make a teenage girl swoon.  As I sat there reading letter after letter, hours passed by.  It was like a time warp to the past and I couldn’t turn away.  Its amazing how much you forget over the years.  How much just reading a letter can make you remember.  Some were funny, others bittersweet.  We shared every part of our lives from the moment we met, just like we still do today.  Some of the letters like the one his shaking hand passed to me the night he left for college was filled with tear stains smudging some of the words.  Some of those letters got some new tear stains as I walked down memory lane.  By the time Travis arrived home from work on our anniversary, I was still lost in the pile.  I quickly whipped up dinner, fed the kids and then took his hand in mine and shared the notes with him.  We laughed and reminisced over the times we had shared.  Those two kids that fell fast and hard just wanted to spend life together.  We talked of the home we would share and the children we would have.  How the moment we met our goals changed to just one thing- be together always.

Today our goals are the same.  To keep on sharing this love we have been gifted.  We know it is a treasure to have such a strong young love.  We have fought battles at times to keep it. In some ways it seems funny to hit such a milestone of 20 years of marriage.  It feels like a big deal, because really it is remarkable in this day and age.  But in some ways it feels totally normal.  Just an average day.  And I think it is because being married is just our normal.  I have been his wife since the day we met in  my heart.  I have proudly wore that wifey title and it is just a part of who I am.

I think the greatest part of marriage is living life in those in between moments.  While we usually start off with a list of big things we want to do- really the magic lies in these small times.  Snuggling under the blankets on the couch each night as we unwind together.  Holding hands every chance we get.  Sharing meals around a table as a family.  Tucking little boys into bed at night and watching them grow with each passing day.  Late Night chats about life and knowing you can be completely vulnerable and honest.  Sharing so many inside jokes that no one could ever keep up with us.  Knowing that no matter what life brings, no matter where we are, we will forever be together building this amazing life.   Here’s to the next 20 babe!