Anniversary

My husband and I are celebrating our anniversary and another year together this month, we have been together 32 years now. I think of the years gone by and I am amazed at how quickly time has passed. I remember the first house we lived in, our move to San Diego,  the birth of our son, buying a motel in Wyoming and managing it, and eventually returning to San Diego to settle down. All of those memories are vivid and clear even though they happened when I was younger and didn’t have gray hair. Our anniversary is another day on the calendar and sometimes it can seem silly to make a big deal about the day. This year is quiet year for us, not dinner out or celebration, yet it’s still special. The longer we are together, the more I value the time we have shared together. The experiences, the memories, all of these events have helped to create a richer, vibrant life for our little family even though it seems like only yesterday that they happened.

Yet, I also remember when time crept slowly, when days lasted forever and I was ready to move on to something else. Life wasn’t always a smooth ride, there were days when it was difficult to figure out how to get through one day, never mind a week, month or years. I look back and think those days seem wasteful but those experiences are a part of me, a part of the tapestry of my life. Without those flaws, would the rest of my life seem as rich, as fulfilled? Or would I take the good days of my life for granted, with no sense of gratitude for what I do have, in spite of the challenges and the bad days? Now, when looking back, those slow days that felt like they would never end, seem like a blip, a bump in our life that we eventually overcame. These hard times remind me that even when life seems rough and hard to navigate, time keeps moving and changes keep happening and eventually life can get better, if we have patience and persistence.

Pictures by J.T. Harpster