I must explain the foot picture. As we dangled our feet into the water of one of our favorite hangouts the night prior to our kiddos' arrival, I was teasing Shannon about his pale, soft feet.
And then it dawned on me.
His feet are white and soft from spending a fair share of their time in shoes/boots working to provide a wonderful life for us. My feet, sandal-tanned and calloused from running barefoot across sand, river beds and grass, are evidence of his love and devotion to me and his children. I made a commitment to whisper a Hail Mary for Shannon each time I saw my Chaco-lined feet this year.
As crazy as it may seem to some, we like to spend our anniversary with our children ~
the product of our love :o)
The water is flippin' cold! A person needs to warm up!
A new appreciation grew for our marriage last summer. A friend of Shannon's was dying. He and his wife were married a couple years before Shan and I. Their wedding was one of our first dates. Shannon wore his best t-shirt and I was mortified.
Danny was also our excavator and his wife, Luanne, did my hair. She even did it for our wedding back when big bangs were the thing. And big my bangs were!
As Danny was diagnosed with brain cancer and underwent treatment we all became better friends. I’m not exactly sure why. My heart ached for Luanne; on some level I just wanted to help lift her burden a tiny bit. And I knew some of their earlier struggles, seeing in them a true commitment to the marriage vows that many would have walked - or rather sprinted - away from. Luanne mentioned those vows one evening last summer ~ how none of us really know as stand before God, family and friends and mutter those words, ‘til death do us part’ all love struck, what they truly mean, what death may look like for our spouse, or for us. She commented on what the definition ‘in sickness and health’ was 27 years ago and how it has evolved as she lived it - embracing the intense pain of watching her best friend suffer so immensely. We may be asked to love someone who barely recognizes us or care for the daily needs of someone who was once so vibrant, proud and independent.
As Shannon and I stood at the altar, did we even understand what love was? Not really. The infatuation we felt for one another was nowhere near true LOVE. The passion of the cross was far from our minds, as certainly it was for Danny and Luanne. While it was sorrowful to watch them, to walk alongside them, it was an immeasurable gift to me. To witness them both pick up their cross and carry it bravely forward was an example I will always hold in my heart.
Looking back on back on two and a
half decades, all I truly know at this moment in time is I am
blessed.
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