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On our tenth anniversary
To my only love,
Good morning sweetheart. While I write this, you are still sleeping, and I am remembering this very day, ten years ago. I remember very clearly the birds outside my window, singing that spring had arrived and that everything is new once more. The snow had just melted, new pale-green grass was pushing up from the lawn, and air was clear from the rain the night before. Every flower exploded with new color, every sound echoed the beauty of nature, and I was sure that it was sign from God--it was a perfect day to marry my soul mate.
My day moved in slow motion; everyone was calm and relaxed. It was so unlike the weddings I've seen Hollywood portray. I drove to the church with my parents, and surrounded by my dearest friends, I put on the pure white dress and threaded white baby's breath through my hair. I smiled through the entire day, because I imagined you getting ready to join me and say ‘I do.'
It was everything I imagined it would be. I took my place on my father's arm and entered the chapel. There you were, standing so tall and proud, beaming with such heartfelt emotion that you looked almost heavenly. When I reached you, you whispered to me that I was the most beautiful woman on earth, and seconds later; you asked if I heard the sparrows outside the church. You had heard them too. That made my heart skip a beat.
Between then and now, we've seen many springs come and go. Each time the season rolls in, I feel our love and relationship renewed, and at least once every year, I whisper in solitude the vows I made in public. I say them to myself to remind me of our covenant, and I count my blessings daily that these vows signify more than just words, rather they stand for every moment of our lives together.
If I had to do it over again, know that I would stand next to you even taller than I stood that day. I would bellow out the words that were just shadows of my love, and I would scream them from the highest building and the tallest mountain if they would convey what I feel.
It hasn't been all romance though. We were warned on that day, ten years ago, that our lives together could be tough. We saw our love tested; yet thankfully, we came out together in the end. It wasn't easy, but always we remembered the vows. Always we remembered that to stay together, we must be one and work as a team. We relied on our faith, and we relied on our commitment. And even when we were at the depths and thinking we wouldn't pull out of the hard times, we found each other again.
I remember our trip to Paris in our sixth year. Do you remember the night we ran through the rain under the Eiffel tower? It was late, and we were hungry. Two crazy-in-love Americans spinning under a spring shower, hoping to find food on the other side of the river. What we found on the other side of the river was our passion; we let go of the hardships back home and found that there, in another country, lost among millions of strangers, we could find each other with a simple touch of the hand.
You are the man I dreamt of my entire life. You are the prince I waited for, and although your valiant steed is now a mini-van, I have no doubt you'd slay dragons for me.
As I watch you sleep this morning, I wonder what the next ten years has in store for us. We will surely watch our child grow up, we will tumble through some bad times, we will smile through some good times, I'm sure. But what will I be writing in ten years? One thing I'm sure of, I will be writing that I love you with all of my heart, mind, and soul.
And as I watch you sleep, I realize again just how lucky I am to have found you and for you to have taken me as your bride. I will close this now and climb into bed next to you, rub your back and kiss your neck, and murmur to you the words that joined us a decade ago.
Please know, my love, that I am honored to be your princess. I vow again, on this tenth anniversary of our beginning, to let us begin once more.
With all my love,
Marie
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