Today, I have been contemplating what 9 years really means to me, and this is what I've come up with:
9 years is 2 beautiful children and the acceptance of 2 more as your own, which I'm sure hasn't always been easy.
It's a few large mistakes and a lifetime of forgiveness.
It's 7 vacations. Some with smiles, some not so much.
It's 9 Christmases waking up exhausted and sharing secretive smiles as the kids tear through their gifts.
It's a hundred heartaches followed by a hundred opportunities to heal together.
It's a thousand opportunities to accept someone else's quirks and habits.
It's a million tears offset by many more smiles.
A lot of people walk into marriage with expectations of an ideal coupling where there are no raised voices, no insults, and no pain. While that would be awesome, we should all remember that marriage does not bestow mind reading powers on either of you. The wedding ring is not THE ONE RING to rule them all. It is not a license to act like an asshole to your partner and expect forgiveness. Marriage, like any other relationship, weathers a lot of storms, and I am proud to say that mine has withstood many. When our marriage has suffered damages, we have pulled together and repaired it. My husband is quite the handyman.
So, what does 9 years mean to me?
It means everything!
What does it mean to you?
