Wow, I woke up this morning at 4:15 a.m. with a half-formed yelp and a huge sigh of relief. I was dreaming that it was my wedding day again and the woman who did my hair and make-up was there to torture me. I loved getting married and I loved getting married at Disney World, but I started getting ready for the wedding at 4:30 in the morning because they were doing all my bridal pictures at 6 a.m. in the empty Magic Kingdom.
Happy Anniversary
Today marks 8 years since we tied the knot in Disney World and we’ve been together 11 going on 12. I count every year and not just the years we’ve been married. October is a great month, because it’s our anniversary month, the month of my husband’s birthday and of course, the biggie – Halloween. Yesterday, my daughter asked me for the first time what a wedding anniversary was and could she celebrate it too.
So we tried to explain it to her: “An anniversary is a day that we celebrate because we did something special on it. Our wedding anniversary is a celebration of the day we got married.” She looked at me for a moment with that thoughtful look she gets sometimes and then said:
So an anniversary is like a birthday only it’s not.
Sort of.
Commitment
I explained to her what commitment was and vows and dedicating yourself. I reminded her that mommy and daddy were married, but that we hadn’t always been married. Then she wanted to know how old we were when we got married. We were both 27 at the time and I told her that. This is the part where I have to laugh because she rolled her eyes and said. “Mom, I’m 6 and I already know who I want to marry, what took you guys so long?”
What Took Us So Long?
Life and growing up is what took us so long. But we found each other and no, we’re not perfect and sometimes we fight and we argue and we misunderstand each other. But we never stop trying and even when it seemed like there was nothing to salvage, we were both determined to maintain, build and save our relationship. It is 8 years later and the Disney magic in our wedding is a constant reminder of why we are together and I only have to look at him to hear that trumpeter announcing my arrival at the end of the aisle and I smile.
Because here we are, eight years later and I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.