We had the day off on Monday and Grandma kindly volunteered to babysit, so we celebrated our 10 year anniversary a few days early. I racked my brain for something exciting and anniversary-like to do. In reality, we mainly just wanted to enjoy each other’s company and have a child-free day. We decided to enjoy a relaxing day, eating breakfast at Perkins, then going to see Guardians of the Galaxy.
It sounds dull to some, but I always feel nostalgic going on a movie date. One of our early dates involved a day at the movies, seeing one, then not wanting the day to end, so going to another. It was also the first time Tim held my hand.
We enjoyed an amazing day in London a few weeks ago and truly count that as our anniversary celebration. New friends graciously babysat our kids for the day, so we could go on a whirlwind visit of some of London’s famous sites. We held hands as we explored The London Tower, rode The London Eye to get a bird’s eye view of the city, and saw Big Ben. We didn’t even stop for lunch – we just enjoyed ice cream, drinks, and pastries as we saw them. Even with pregnancy aches and pains, it proved a nearly perfect anniversary day.
I feel as though I should have something profound to say at 10 years. Each year, the same phrase runs through my head, “I love being married to my favorite person.” We’ve navigated 10 years together; sometimes gracefully, sometimes lacking finesse. Our arguments rarely involve yelling, but we’ve endured our share of silent treatments, frustrated tones, and misunderstandings. We’ve been cautious, risky, adventurous, and sometimes safe in our choices. Sometimes we change and grow and tandem, other times we’re out of sync.
Marriage is awesome, messy, confusing, enlightening, joyful, and sometimes heartbreaking. It’s also the best decision I ever made, changing my life at 25, aligning my dreams, hopes, and every day with an incredible person. After our 3 month adventure in Europe, I appreciate my partner even more and I’m eager to see what the next 10 years bring.
Today, my husband posted this on Facebook and I couldn’t imagine a better anniversary gift:
“Happy 10-year anniversary to my beautiful and amazing wife, Mindy! Spend five minutes with her and you’ll understand why I married her!”
Jill S says
he’s so romantic… my husband doesn’t have a romantic fiber in his whole being…